KELER is to migrate to TARGET2-Securities in the third phase planned for September 2016, which would make it among the first central securities depositories in Central and Eastern Europe to access the platform directly.

SIA is an Italian designer, creator and manager of technology infrastructures and services for financial and central institutions, corporations and public administration bodies with subsidiaries in Hungary and South Africa, while Colt is a London-based financial services solutions provider. Owned 53.33% by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) and 46.67% by the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE), KELER announced plans to settle the securities leg of transactions in domestically issued securities through Target2-Securities (T2S) from the middle of 2016 in June, 2012.

SIA and Colt say they have recently completed the successful implementation of their connectivity solution. This will enable KELER to commence the functional test phase in line with the migration framework, they add. TARGET2-Securities, a project promoted by the European Central Bank (ECB) which is to be managed by four central banks (Banca d’Italia, Deutsche Bundesbank, Banque de France and Banco de Espana) is one of the initiatives for the creation of the single European market following the Euro, TARGET2, SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) and PSD (Payment Services Directive).

According to forecasts from the ECB, TARGET2-Securities will be capable of handling a daily average of over 1 mln securities transactions, while also contributing to a significant reduction in cross-border settlement costs.