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Overseeing securities, clearing and settlement systems in Spain
Article 255 of the Securities Market Law (Consolidated text approved by Legislative Royal Decree 4/2015, of 23 October) provides that, under international standards and European Union Regulation on central counterparties, central securities depositories and other financial-market infrastructures, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) and Banco de España shall ensure that the functioning of national securities clearing and settlement systems preserve the stability of the financial system as a whole. To this end, these authorities shall assess the degree to which Spanish market infrastructures procedures are adapted to best practices and international recommendations, and shall draw up and publish a biennial report.
Since 2007 the Spanish market was involved in a significant process for reforming the Securities Clearing, Settlement and Registration System (henceforth, the “reform”) which finalised in September 2017 with the migration of Iberclear-ARCO to TARGET2-Securities. The main reasons for this reform were the harmonisation with the rest of EU systems, the adaptation to the new European regulations in this area, and incorporation of Iberclear to TARGET2-Securities.
Banco de España acted as a catalyst in this ambitious initiative, with strong involvement from the authorities, market infrastructures and participating financial institutions.
After the reform, the securities market infrastructures in Spain are Iberclear, the central securities depository that operates the securities settlement system ARCO, and BME Clearing, the central counterparty.
