TARGET2-Securities is the Eurosystem's largest project ever implemented in the area of market infrastructures. Nowhere else in the world is there a similar system joining the depositories and national central banks of 20 countries to harmonise the settlement of securities transactions.
On 18 September 2017, Latvijas Banka together with Nasdaq CSD, SE and other participants of Latvia's securities market migrated successfully to the TARGET2-Securities platform.
Latvijas Banka started to provide cash settlement services in the central bank money to the participants of TARGET2-Latvija. Market participants can benefit from the following advantages of the TARGET2-Securities platform:
- single gateway for investors and issuers into the Baltic and other European capital markets;
- integrated platform with no differences between cross-border and domestic settlement;
- harmonised post-trade activities;
- lower need for liquidity (by using the auto-collateralisation facility).
Like other national central banks in Europe, Latvijas Banka ensures the settlement of the cash leg of securities transactions in euro by participating in TARGET2-Securities. Latvijas Banka opens and maintains dedicated TARGET2-Securities cash accounts for the settlement in central bank money for the participants of TARGET2-Securities pursuant to the System Rules for Participation in TARGET2-Latvija (available only in Latvian). As regards the technical architecture, both the dedicated cash accounts and the securities accounts are located on the single TARGET2-Securities platform. It enables the participants of TARGET2-Latvija making settlement for the securities registered with any central securities depository participating in TARGET2-Securities to use one dedicated TARGET2-Securities cash account to settle the cash leg.
Comprehensive information on the TARGET2-Securities platform is available on the European Central Bank's website.