The Central Securities Depositary (CSD) of Moldova started work on May 21 after being in an intense constitution process for two years. The new institution is responsible for the registration, bookkeeping and settlement of securities issued by legal entities of the Republic of Moldova, IPN reports.
Attending the launch, National Bank of Moldova governor Octavian Armașu said it is essential for the new institution to become one of the most active and efficient players in developing the financial market, which would ensure the safe keeping of financial instruments and a high level of protection of operations. “The new institution represents advanced technological infrastructure that ensures the provision of settlement, register keeping and securities transfer services. In other words, the transfer of securities between participants, holders and issuers will take place electronically based on a common platform. This will increase the safety of transactions and will facilitate the flow of capital. This infrastructure will become a basis for facilitating the introduction of new financial instruments and for familiarizing investors with these,” stated the governor.
CSD director Alexandru Savva said the Central Securities Depositary was created on a very solid basis with the assistance of international experts of USAID and the Financial Services Volunteer Corps and aspires to an international model. The intention to create it appeared first in 1997, but it was hard to do the reform and this was delayed from year to year. Operations with state securities and instruments of the central bank were initiated in July 31, 2018. Settlement transactions to the value of about €14 billion have been performed so far and this amount is not colossal, but is normal for a financial market at the level of central banks and banking activity. It is also a target to which the corporate market should also tend.
USAID Mission Director Karen Hilliard noted that together with the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, they established a partnership with the National Bank of Moldova for building a key component of a safe, robust and modern financial infrastructure in Moldova. “The Central Securities Depository is an element of maximum importance for the safety and transparency of the infrastructure of the financial market and a step needed for affirming foreign investors’ confidence in the market in Moldova,” stated Karen Hilliard.
The CSD’s business operation model is based on international standards and practices applicable in the field of settlement systems, whereas the national legislation governing the activity of the CSD transposes relevant EU regulations. By founding the Central Securities Depositary, Moldova aligns itself with the international standards, including the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures and the EU Regulations on the Central Securities Depositories.
