Updated assessment of links between securities settlement systems

On 17 October 2000 the Governing Council of the ECB approved two further links between securities settlement systems (SSSs) which can be used for the transfer of foreign collateral in the Eurosystem's monetary policy and intraday credit operations, bringing the total number of currently eligible links to 64 (see the table below).

Three links have been deleted from the list of eligible links: the link from Euroclear to CGO and the link from Clearstream (Luxembourg) to CGO (both of which are no longer operational due to the merger of CGO with CREST) as well as the link from Clearstream (Luxembourg) to Sicovam (which is not yet in operation and cannot, therefore, be used by the Eurosystem for its credit operations).

The increase in of the number of links between SSSs is proving to be a key factor in the integration of the euro area financial markets. The assessment of SSSs and of their links against ECB standards ensures an even and high standard for the European securities infrastructure.

The updated list of links can be found on the ECB's website, together with the dates for the future assessment of links. The launch of the sixth and seventh rounds of assessment of links has been scheduled to start on 2 April and 1 October 2001 respectively.