The European Central Bank (ECB) has approved five further links between securities settlement systems (SSSs) for use in the transfer of foreign collateral in the conduct of monetary policy and intraday credit operations.
The new links are from SCLV (Spain) to Necigef (the Netherlands), Necigef to SCLV, Euroclear (Belgium) to Crest (the United Kingdom), Crest to Euroclear, and Monte Titoli (Italy) to Clearstream (Luxembourg). In addition, the link from Euroclear (France) to CIK (Belgium) has been withdrawn from the list because it does not yet handle eligible assets.
"The increase in the number of links contributes to the integration of the euro area financial markets," says the ECB in a statement. "Their assessment ensures an even and high standard for the European securities infrastructure."
The updated list of links - now standing at 66 - can be found on the ECB's Web site. The launch of the seventh round of link assessments has been scheduled to start on 1 October 2001.