CSD.Austria, the Austrian Central Securities Depository operated by OeKB, and National Settlement Depository (NSD), Russia’s central securities depository, launch an international direct link to the full range of Russian securities. As a result, Austrian and international custodians holding securities accounts with CSD.Austria can conduct direct settlement of Russian securities and safekeep them using CSD.Austrias´s foreign nominee account opened with NSD. This means significant savings in time and costs for foreign investors.
Opening this new direct link with NSD became possible after recent amendment of Russian legislation allowing foreign Central Securities Depositories (CSDs) to open Foreign Nominee Accounts with NSD, which had been granted CSD status in 2012. CSDs with direct links with NSD will have a possibility to provide their clients a direct access to Russian on-exchange and OTC markets in respect of all types of Russian securities, as well as to information services and ruble settlements.
“We are proud to offer to our customers the direct settlement of all Russian securities, - happily confirms Georg Zinner, head of the OeKB Capital Market Services business unit, - The original securities are held by the CSD.Austria directly with the Russian CSD. This effectively shortens the line of depositories involved and considerably increases custody quality”.
Considering the vast interest of foreign investors in the Russian market in general and the large number of IPOs already announced for the oncoming years as part of the Russian government's privatization program, Mr. Zinner predicts high traffic figures for the new custody link.
Eddie Astanin, Chairman of the Executive Board of NSD, pointed out: “CSD.Austria's decision to open an account with NSD reflects the progress made in integrating Russia’s financial market into the global post trading infrastructure and contributes to a reduction in investors’ costs for access to the Russian stock market, particularly for investments in shares of the Russian companies”.
About OeKB
The Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft (OeKB) is Austria's main financial and information service provider for the export industry and the capital market. OeKB's specialized services strengthen Austria as a location for business and support economy in the global competitive market. The wide range of services is available to companies and financial institutions as well as statutory bodies of the Republic of Austria. OeKB acts across all sectors, centrally, impartially and in concordance with a strict sustainability policy. This specialized institution was founded in 1946 and is owned by Austrian banks.
Since 1965, OeKB independently operates the CentralSecuritiesDepository.Austria (CSD.A). The decades' worth of experience in combination with cutting-edge settlement technology guarantees Austrian and international customers the custody and safekeeping of securities at the highest of quality levels.
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Christian Pinetz
+43 1 53127 2338
About NSD
National Settlement Depository (NSD) is the central securities depository of the Russian Federation, a part of the Moscow Exchange Group. The company was founded on 27 June 1996.
NSD is Russia's national numbering agency and the substitute numbering agency for the CIS, authorized to assign the international ISIN and CFI codes. The international rating agency Thomas Murray has assigned NSD an AA- rating as a central securities depository. Total value of assets on deposit with NSD amounted to RUB18.7 trillion as of 30 August 2013.
The status of central securities depository was assigned to NSD by the Russian Federal Financial Markets Service’s order on 6 November 2012.
NSD holds professional securities market participant license #177-12042-000100 for depository operations issued by the Russian Federal Financial Markets Service on 19 February 2009, license #3294 for bank operations issued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on 26 July 2012 and license #077-00004-000010 for the clearing activities issued by the Russian Federal Financial Markets Service on 20 December 2012.
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