Reserve Bank of Australia has completed migration of its Commonwealth Government Securities (CGS) portfolios, valued at A$65 billion, to SFE's clearing system, in a move which consolidates all wholesale electronic transactions in Australian debt securities on the Austraclear platform.
The RBA will continue to provide real-time gross settlement facilities for interbank payments through the Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System (Rits), conduct tenders for CGS and provide registry services for these securities.
“The transfer of CGS to SFE has followed a lengthy period of consultation with market participants,” notes Martin Stockely-Smith, general manager of SFE Clearing.
According to Stockely-Smith, the consolidation of debt securities on the Austraclear system will result in lower fees, greater processing efficiencies and improved settlement management through SFE Clearing.
The move will also lead to the release of new SFE products and services, such as bond and repo clearing (the utilisation of central counter-party clearing (CCP) for Australian bonds and repos), he adds.
Robert Elstone, CEO and managing director of SFE Corporation, comments: "The transfer of Commonwealth Government Securities to Austraclear is significant in that it provides an important building block to ensure the continued competitiveness of SFE as a leading service provider within the global clearing community.”