After months of close collaboration and testing with clients and market participants, Euronext Securities launched on 21 September a broader European CSD (Central Securities Depository) service for equities and ETFs in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, complementing its current markets in Denmark, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Norway. This expansion of the European CSD is one of the key elements of Euronext's strategic plan "Innovate for Growth 2027". Furthermore, it represents a milestone in the consolidation of post-trade infrastructure.
For the first time, trading members in these markets have a genuine choice of where to settle their transactions, and issuers have a new reliable option for the issuance, registration, and custody of their securities. This is not a national infrastructure, but rather a European CSD model that allows clients to consolidate settlement activity across multiple markets within a single infrastructure and simplify their post-trade operating model.
According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, the expansion of Euronext's CSD business "kicks off the largest of its five pillars of organic growth". They add: "We see it as the main catalyst, contributing €80 million in revenue by 2028 in their base case scenario".
With this new structure, trading members will have shorter custody chains and a more agile approach to cross-border activity. Meanwhile, issuers will have better access to directly connected financial intermediaries, without intermediate stages, and a single point of contact covering the entire chain, from listing to settlement.
The designation of Euronext Securities as the issuer's CSD will remain an exclusive decision of the issuer itself, in accordance with the regulatory framework for open access to CSDs.
Settlement is fully interoperable with other central securities depositories (CSDs) through the TARGET2-Securities platform of the European Central Bank, at the cost of a national operation.
This measure requires minimal effort from the issuer. Euronext Securities manages the process from start to finish with the issuing agent and the paying agent, without affecting shareholders, their rights, or existing capital market programmes.
Furthermore, issuance services are provided free of charge, with no migration, setup, or recurring fees for issuance or custody.
As Euronext itself explains, the new offering is somewhat broader and different: “A concrete and functional example of European integration put into practice, as the fragmentation of the European post-trade infrastructure has long been identified as a barrier to investment.”