The 'Bridge' is an electronic communications link which facilitates the efficient settlement of securities transactions between counterparties in Clearstream Banking Luxembourg and Euroclear Bank.

This second phase provides an additional improvement in interoperability between the two international central securities depositories (ICSDs). Customers of both ICSDs will now benefit from improved cross-border settlement efficiency. This has been achieved by substantially improving the existing infrastructure, specifically by extending instruction deadlines and allowing same-day Bridge transactions. An additional optional settlement period for Bridge instructions has also been introduced.

The first phase, completed in June 2004, delivered improved settlement efficiency and enabled customers to reduce their costs by having more opportunities to settle Bridge transactions that failed during the overnight process. Additionally, this phase enabled better interaction with domestic markets across different time zones.

Jeffrey Tessler, Member of Executive Board, Deutsche Börse Group, stated; "Similar to the first phase, this second phase of implementation of the Automated Daytime Bridge has been completed exactly on schedule and delivers a greater level of interoperability to the marketplace. However, our customers still seek further improvements in interoperability between the ICSDs and therefore Clearstream now looks forward to continuing the cooperation with Euroclear to enable this for the good of the market."