The Eurosystem makes use of Securities Settlement Systems (SSS) and links between SSSs operated by Central Securities Depositories (CSDs) and International Central Securities Depositories (ICSDs), in order to settle its credit operations based on adequate collateral. An SSS or link may only be used in Eurosystem credit operations once it has been granted eligibility. The Eurosystem applies user standards in eligibility assessments in order to: (i) mitigate the risks that might be incurred in both domestic and cross-border systems used for the settlement of monetary policy and intraday credit operations, and to (ii) ensure the safe and effective provision of collateral from counterparties to central banks.
The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC), as user of the SSS, regularly assesses the Central Depository Central Registry (CDCR) of the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE), which has been positively assessed against the Eurosystem User Assessment Framework (UAF) and it is included in the list of eligible SSSs for use in Eurosystem credit operations published on the ECB’s website.
The European Central Bank’s new eligibility regime for granting eligibility to SSSs and links
The European Central Bank (ECB) has introduced, as from April 2018, a new eligibility regime for granting eligibility to SSSs and links for their use in Eurosystem credit operations.
The Eurosystem has decided, as of 16 November 2021, to move CDCR to the new regime. The decision is based on the outcome of the Eurosystem's eligibility assessment, according to which the CDCR fulfills the following criteria, as laid down in Annex VIa of the General Documentation Guideline (Guideline (EU) 2015/510 of the European Central Bank of 19 December 2014 on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy framework '(General Documentation Guideline) (ECB/2014/60) (recast)':
a) the euro area SSS operator complies with the requirements for authorisation as a CSD laid down in Regulation (EU) No 909/2014; and
b) the National Central Bank of the Member State in which the respective SSS operates has set up and maintains appropriate contractual or other arrangements with the euro area SSS operator, which include the Eurosystem requirements laid down in Section II of the General Documentation Guideline.