European Central Securities Depositories Association

Overview

European Central Securities Depositories Association (ECSDA) is the official trade association for the Central Securities Depository industry in Europe. The association provides a forum for Central Securities Depositories (CSDs) to exchange views and take forward projects of mutual interest. It aims to promote a constructive dialogue between the CSD community, European and Global public authorities and other stakeholders aiming at contributing to an efficient and risk-averse infrastructure for financial markets. It is one of five regional CSD associations of World Forum of CSDs.

History

The history of the ECSDA dates back to the early 1990s, when CSD chief executives started to meet on a regular basis to exchange best practices and prepare for the adoption of the euro. The idea of formalising these contacts in an association emerged in 1995 at a meeting taking place at the European Monetary Institute in Frankfurt. The association was established in November 1997 with the signature of the first original Statutes of the association in Madrid by the 13 founding members and registered in Brussels Belgium. Since May 2017, ECSDA is led by Anna Kulik, Secretary General of the association. The Association is governed by the General Meeting of its members, the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. The association governance is specified in the "Articles of the Association" and its by-laws. While the General Meeting gathers the representatives of the ECSDA Members, the Board Directors are appointed in a personal capacity. The association holds regular expert discussions and conferences. In 2018, ECSDA held a "Conference on new technology for Financial Market Infrastructures". In 2019, ECSDA held a conference “Towards the Financial Market Infrastructures of Tomorrow”. In March 2022, in reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Central Securities Depository Association suspended the Russian depository National Settlement Depository (NSD) from membership in the association.

Main activities

The association has 5 permanent working groups:

Risk management of Central Securities Depositories, Public Policy for Financial Market Infrastructures and Central Securities Depositories, Settlement efficiency and discipline, Compliance and Harmonisation/corporate actions. The association also focuses on Cyber resilience, technological innovation and other. It regularly publishes research reports on CSDs, including technical standards, statistics, positions on regulatory issues. It provides educational material on the role of CSDs in financial markets, including Frequently Asked Questions, an online tutorial and facts about the CSD industry. The association acts as the prime interlocutor for European public authorities and other market associations active in the post-trade sector.

Membership

As of early 2025, ECSDA had 32 full members and 8 associate members.

Full members

OeKB CSD Euroclear Bank Euroclear Belgium Central Depository AD (CDAD) SKDD Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) CSD Prague (CDCP) Euronext Securities Copenhagen Euroclear Finland Euroclear France Clearstream Banking AG ATHEXCSD KELER Verðbréfamiðstöð Íslands (VBM) Euronext Securities Milan Nasdaq CSD Clearstream Banking SA LuxCSD Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) Single Central Securities Depository (DCU) CSD & CC Montenegro Euroclear Nederland Euronext Securities Oslo KDPW Euronext Securities Porto Depozitarul Central CDCP SR KDD Central Securities Clearing Corporation Iberclear Euroclear Sweden SIX SIS Euroclear UK & International

Associate members

Registry of Securities (RVP) Central Registry of Securities JSC Banja Luka (CR HoV RS) AIX CSD KCSD Central Securities Depository AD Skopje National Depository of Ukraine (NDU) Central Securities Depository and Clearing House (CR HoV) Central Securities Depository of Turkey (MKK)

See also

World Forum of Central Securities Depositories – Depository holding financial securities Financial market infrastructure – Critical component of the financial system TARGET2-Securities

External links

European Central Securities Depositories Association presentation on SlideShare Securities depositories to raise public policy profile (Finextra, 7 September 2010) AIX CSD becomes member of European Association of CSDs (Kazinform, 1 April 2019)