EU

Cross-border securities clearing and settlement: the case for improved efficiency

Sam Dibb, senior manager, Banking & Capital Markets, and Chris Thompson, partner, Global Risk Management Solutions, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Clearing and settlement evolved to meet domestic needs

As with most commercial endeavours, securities markets concentrate on developing and delivering services that meet the requirements of their users. Historically, this meant focusing on domestic needs: investors generally acquired securities issued by institutions in the country where they resided, and the demand for cross-border trading was very small in comparison to the overall market size. Understandably, infrastructure developed with functionality to service the demands of the domestic market and its users.