Euroclear Bank, the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) and Takasbank, the central clearing and settlement institution of Turkey, today announce an exclusive agreement whereby Turkish Eurobonds listed and traded on the ISE will settle at Euroclear Bank after the transactions are cleared and netted by Takasbank.
Effective 17 December, Turkish banks with accounts at Euroclear Bank will be able to settle Turkish Eurobond trades conducted both OTC and on the Istanbul Stock Exchange in the same accounts where they settle their cross-border Eurobond and other securities transactions with international counterparties. They will benefit from the ability to settle in multiple currencies with domestic and foreign counterparties, and with more advantageous deadlines than their current arrangements. The Turkish Lira is already one of 53 settlement currencies offered by Euroclear Bank. Most of the major Turkish banks have Euroclear Bank accounts.
Hüseyin Erkan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Istanbul Stock Exchange, said: "In commemorating today's 25th anniversary of the Istanbul Stock Exchange, we are delighted to offer new features in broadening the appeal of the Exchange as a venue to trade Turkish Eurobonds. We are launching a new trade matching system, called Neg-deal, to increase liquidity, and we are enabling our members to settle Eurobond transactions traded locally and cross border with the leading settlement infrastructure for these securities - Euroclear Bank. We expect this initiative will increase settlement efficiency for our members and potentially increase liquidity for these securities on the Exchange."
Emin Server Çatana, President and Chief Executive Officer of Takasbank, commented: "As the central clearing and settlement institution of Turkey, we fully support the new arrangements for the settlement of locally traded Turkish Eurobonds. We acknowledge the operational benefits this will deliver to Turkish banks and look forward to working closely with Euroclear Bank on a successful launch on 17 December."
Yves Poullet, Chief Executive Officer of Euroclear Bank, welcomed this new development and added: "We believe that Euroclear Bank can add value to Turkey's local financial community by sharing our multi-currency Eurobond settlement and asset-servicing capabilities, and we are looking forward to doing so. We also congratulate the Istanbul Stock Exchange on its 25-year anniversary and wish them continued success for the future."