Strong support for harmonisation of the Swedish securities market
News, Consultation responses There is strong support in the Swedish securities market for harmonisation to European standards. This is indicated by a summary of the responses received by the Riksbank to its consultation “Use of T2S for securities settlement in central bank money”. However, the consultation responses also show that there are differing attitudes towards using the Eurosystem’s settlement platform for securities, TARGET2-Securities (T2S), for Swedish securities settlement.
Participants in the Riksbank's system for large-value payments, RIX, and other stakeholders were invited to respond to the consultation and give their organisation’s opinion on potential future changes in the area of securities and on future arrangements for how central bank money in Swedish kronor is provided for securities settlement. Among the respondents, there is strong support for the harmonisation and standardisation of the Swedish securities market’s processes to European standards. This is considered important in order to maintain the efficiency and attractiveness of the Swedish securities market.
As regards how the respondents feel about T2S as a future settlement platform for Swedish securities, about half of them are neutral or cautious. The rest are evenly divided between those who are positive and those who are negative to T2S. The positive aspects of T2S highlighted by respondents include efficiency gains and economies of scale. The drawbacks of T2S are mostly related to concerns about increased costs, both running costs and transition costs, if T2S is used. Other aspects considered important in the choice of future settlement platform are related to availability, robustness and continuity.
The Riksbank published the consultation “Use of T2S for securities settlement in central bank money” in February 2021. It concerns how the Riksbank shall provide central bank money in Swedish kronor for settlement of securities transactions in the future. The consultation period expired at the beginning of April 2021. The Riksbank received 18 responses to the consultation.