This step will enable settlement and safekeeping of all equities denominated in Romanian Leu (RON) through Clearstream’s international infrastructure, improving efficiency with international standards while reducing costs for investors.
“Being able to enter emerging markets via an internationally established post-trade environment is very attractive to investors all over the world. Romania has been already a long-time part of our global network. Clearstream now making Romanian local equities available to international investors will add to the market’s attractiveness, increasing demand and thus liquidity of Romanian equities. The local market will benefit from a wider range of sources of funding, contributing to its further development,” said Jan Willems, Head of Global Markets at Clearstream.
Clearstream has been present in the Romanian market offering government and municipal bonds since 2010. In May 2020, it added local corporate bonds to its ICSD infrastructure and is now completing its portfolio with local equities. As the only ICSD offering the entire range of Romanian instruments, Clearstream is demonstrating its commitment to one of the fastest-growing Central and Eastern European (CEE) capital markets. .
“We are very pleased that Clearstream is expanding its services for the Romanian capital market. This has been a requirement that we have heard more and more often in recent years from foreign investors but also from Romanian issuers, especially after the inclusion of Romania on the watch-list for promotion to the secondary emerging market status by one of the leading global index providers, FTSE Russell. The reclassification of the Romanian capital market status, entering into force in September 2020, will be an achievement very long-awaited by investors, intermediaries and all stakeholders, and also the most important acknowledgment of our efforts to develop the Romanian capital market,” said Silvia Buicanescu, CEO at Depozitarul Central.
Claudiu Cercel, Deputy CEO at BRD Groupe Société Générale in charge of Financial Markets, said the partnership coupled with new listings on Bucharest Stock Exchange and the upcoming market status upgrade will be conducive to a healthy and sustainable growth of Romanian capital markets and, as a consequence, to the consolidation of alternative financing channels for the Romanian economy.
As an international central securities depository (ICSD), headquartered in Luxembourg, Clearstream, which is part of Deutsche Börse Group, provides the post-trade infrastructure for the Eurobond market and services for securities from 58 domestic markets worldwide. With around 14 trillion euros in assets under custody, Clearstream is one of the world’s largest settlement and custody firms for domestic and international securities.