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After discussing heavily the pricing structure for T2S with the market, we are happy to announce that the Governing Council has now committed to a maximum unit price of 15 cent per DvP instruction during the period from September 2014 to December 2018. The offer is subject to the following conditions: (i) non-euro currencies will add at least 20% to the euro settlement volume; (ii) the securities settlement volume in the EU will not be more than 10% lower than the T2S Programme Office’s projected volumes, which in turn are based on market advice; and (iii) tax authorities will confirm that the Eurosystem will not be charged VAT for T2S services. Further information on this matter is provided in an article by Markus Mayers in the “Insight” section of this issue of T2S Online.
T2S participants will need to interact with the T2S platform by sending and receiving messages via a network. This service will be offered by a maximum of three external network providers. These network providers will be selected on the basis of demanding criteria relating to security, reliability, efficiency and disaster recovery. If more than three providers satisfy the criteria, the final selection will favour those offering the best value for T2S users. In the last few months, much progress has been made in preparing the legal documentation for the tender. Moreover, roles and responsibilities have been defined: the T2S Programme Board will designate the members of the selection panel, while the Banca d’Italia will be mandated by the Eurosystem to conduct the procedure. The selection process will be launched at the beginning of 2011 with the intention of reaching a decision on the three network providers by September 2011 at the latest. For further information, please refer to the ECB presentation given during the technical dialogue on T2S user connectivity, organised by De Nederlandsche Bank and KAS BANK N.V, on 26 October 2010.
In July this year, the draft Framework Agreement was submitted to securities regulators with a view to obtaining their preliminary feedback. In its formal response, the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) expressed its strong support for T2S and provided very valuable feedback on questions currently under discussion. In the light of the CESR’s comments, the T2S Programme Board will continue to negotiate with the CSDs in order to finalise the Framework Agreement, including its technical annexes. To allow full transparency and seek the market’s input, the T2S Programme Board envisages making the Framework Agreement available to the Advisory Group in early 2011. Hereafter, the Eurosystem intends to finalise the agreement and sign it with participating CSDs in 2011 after the summer.
The User Detailed Functional Specifications (UDFS) is a critical technical document of about 10,000 pages which aims to provide information to CSDs, NCBs and other directly connected parties, allowing them to design and build the information systems interface required by T2S. To facilitate interaction with the relevant stakeholders and obtain their input, dedicated workshops have been, and will continue to be, held on the draft deliveries of the UDFS. Based on the outcome of these workshops, an official market consultation on the UDFS will be launched in March 2011.
