MINSK, 18 February (BelTA) – The Central Securities Depositary of Belarus has sent the first SWIFT message, BelTA has learned.
A new revision of the agreement on establishing correspondent relations with the non-banking credit organization AO National Settlement Depositary (Russia) came into force on 15 February 2021. The document provides for a new interaction procedure that relies on the global provider of secure financial messaging services SWIFT. The same day the Central Securities Depositary of Belarus started using the SWIFT system to send depositary messages in the course of operating the National Settlement Depositary's depositary correspondent account in the Central Securities Depositary of Belarus.
The Central Securities Depositary of Belarus started using the SWIFT system on the securities market after two years of preparations. The project's implementation will facilitate the adoption of international financial standards on the Belarusian securities market. It will also allow effectively using the international experience in the sphere of information technologies. It will enable prompt, reliable, precise, and uninterrupted transactions in operations involving securities. It will allow the Central Securities Depositary of Belarus to be part of the context of formation of the common financial market of the Eurasian Economic Union member states, the organization's representatives explained.
AO National Settlement Depositary is Russia's central depositary that offers custody services, cash management and payment services, trade repository services, information services, liquidity management, and technological services.
SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) is an international interbank system for sending information and making transactions. It enables financial institutions (banks, investment companies, depositaries, clearance and settlement organizations) all over the globe to send and receive information about financial operations.
The Central Securities Depositary of Belarus maintains depositary correspondent accounts of 28 second-tier depositaries, over 20,000 depositary accounts of issuers and depositors, including the Belarusian Finance Ministry and the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus. The Central Securities Depositary keeps over Br70 billion (over $27 billion) worth of securities in centralized storage and carries out over 100,000 depositary transactions every year. The Central Securities Depositary of Belarus has established correspondent relations with depositaries of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan. The Central Securities Depositary of Belarus is a member of the Association of Eurasian Central Securities Depositories (AECSD), the international Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA), and the Belarusian association of participants of the securities market.
