GIOVANNINI GROUP

There remains important obstacles to an efficient single European market for clearing and settlement of securities transactions. To address these obstacles first identified by the Giovannini Group of experts chaired by the European Commission, the financial services industry notably developed and endorsed market practices standards for corporate actions processing and for general meetings. The Market Standards for Corporate Actions Processing were endorsed in summer 2009 and are in the process of implementation. They cover the most common and complex corporate actions, both on stocks (e.g. dividend payments, early redemptions, stock splits) and on flows (e.g. transformations). The Market Standards for General Meetings were endorsed in summer 2010 and are currently subject to a thorough gap analysis to assess them against the market practices and the legal and regulatory requirements that exist in the different European countries. The responsibility for the actual implementation of these two sets of standards resides at national level with the Market Implementation Groups (MIGs). The MIGs meet twice/year at European level to exchange experience and undergo peer review. They are made up of market experts representing all the parties involved in the securities’ value chain: issuers, market infrastructures for trading, clearing and settlement, intermediaries (i.e. custodian banks), investors. An all-inclusive industry body (the Broad Stakeholder Group) steers, coordinates and monitors the proper implementation of the standards throughout the EU and EFTA countries. The Group is chaired by the EBF and reports directly to the European Commission on progress achieved. With a significant increase in cross-border investment activities, European banks believe that these standards can offer efficient, valuable, durable and innovative solutions to streamline complex operational processes and back office activities. They should therefore benefit to all users of capital markets, and ultimately participate to the further integration of the European post-trading landscape. Market participants, regulatory authoritie, academics and the general public will find here the key documentation related to these market standards and the latest documents updated on a regular basis. Some useful links are also provided.

For further information, please contact the EBF Secretariat (s.tringali@ebf.eu).


RELATED DOCUMENTS