Securities settlement for Irish assets worth more than €100 billion has left London for the European Union in the latest adjustment in markets to Brexit.
Pan-European exchange Euronext, which runs the Dublin stock exchange, said on Thursday it had completed the migration of securities settlement for 50 Irish companies from Crest in London to Euroclear Bank in Brussels from March 15th.
Settlement of EU securities must take place in a central securities depository (CSD) inside the bloc.
While the transfer does not have immediate implications for jobs and tax revenues in Britain, it is a further sign of how its financial services industry is being cut off from the EU.
The EU had given Crest temporary permission to continue settling Irish securities in London until the migration was completed. Crest is part of the Euroclear group.
The migration follows shifts in euro stock and derivatives trading from London to the bloc, with Brussels now targeting the clearing of derivatives.
“The wholesale migration of settlement of securities from one CSD to another is unprecedented,” said Daryl Byrne, chief executive of Euronext Dublin.
“We now have long-term certainty about the trading and post-trade infrastructure for the Irish market in a post-Brexit world, which ensures that Ireland remains an attractive jurisdiction for listed companies and market participants in the years ahead,” Mr Byrne said.
Complex project
Commenting on the market migration, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said: ‘This has been a very complex and innovative project and I welcome the successful migration of our securities settlement system from the UK to Belgium.
“This week’s migration of our €100 billion of securities shows that Ireland remains well connected into the heart of the EU’s capital markets – with the stable investment and legislative environment that comes with that access and activity’.
“The Government, and in particular my Department, has been steadfast in its support of this critical project. I am confident that the success of the migration will ensure that Irish companies can continue to access funding from the capital markets and will help ensure Ireland’s place in the EU capital markets for the future.”
