Europian Code of Conduct for Clearing and Settlement
On 7th November, 2006 Central Registry of Securities handed over the undersigned European Code of Conduct to European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Mr Charlie McCreevy. The Code was jointly drafted by members of FESE, EACH and ECSDA.
The undersigning exchanges, clearing houses and central securities depositories share the objective of achieving greater efficiency and further integration of European capital markets.
The objective of the Code of Conduct – in line with the objectives of the European Commission – is therefore to allow investors to trade European securities within a consistent, coherent and cost-efficient European framework.
The Code of Conduct will cover the following areas:
Price transparency, to help customers to understand and compare prices and services.
Standard unilateral access between Organisations and interoperability, to enhance the ability of Organisations to interconnect and ultimately increase freedom of choice for market participants.
Service unbundling and accounting separation, to facilitate competition, increase customer choice and provide relevant information on the services provided. Monitoring of industry action.
Furthermore, the undersigning Organisations understand that the Commission is considering proposing the extension of the self-regulatory approach from cash equities to other asset classes and service providers once the Code has entered into force. This review will take place at the time of implementation of the Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), further enhancing the objectives pursued by the Commission in MifID.
