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MARKET OVERVIEW

PROCEED WITH CAUTION REDUCED VISIBILITY:

Michael Kempe takes a look at some of the key market issues, including an update on how the introduction of TARGET-2 Securities (T2S) might cause shareholder visibility problems for issuers

T

SPRING 2010

he proposed introduction of T2S continues to be one of the most talked about topics in our market, and recent developments are likely to keep it at the forefront of discussions for a while yet. At the

end of 2009, the European Central Bank (ECB) recognised (thanks to pressure from organisations such as ICSA and the GC100) that issuers and issuer agents had major concerns about both shareholder visibility and the potential cost benefit; this resulted in a working party on shareholder visibility being formed that met for the first time on 16 March.

Shareholder visibility is key to issuers and it has become apparent that issuers and their agents

Chief Development Officer

MICHAEL KEMPE

throughout Europe believe that T2S could either be a major barrier to shareholder visibility or an opportunity to help create a European structure that benefits all. Previous articles have explained how T2S could hinder shareholder identification at the registration level.

The working group that met at the ECB1 is chaired by

Paul Bodart from Bank of New York and the first meeting was an exploratory one to understand the issues across Europe. During the meeting it became clear that many markets (such as Germany and France) have shareholder identification rules (although some do not as well) and that T2S should, at a minimum, protect Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32