Entwicklungen, Releases & Projekte

The new Issuer Platform of OeKB CSD aims to fully digitalize the security lifecycle – from a security’s issue to its end-of-life.

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Learn more about the Issuer Platform in our short video.

The project of OeKB CSD benefits from the current dematerialization legislation relating to the Austrian securities market and will allow for

• a simplification and convergence of securities management workflows,
• increased automation and straight-through-processing in securities management with decreased end-to-end workflow times,
• more direct communication between issuers and the CSD, including extended self-service capabilities,
• increased flexibility for issuers and agents using distribution accounts and
• a technological leap with adopting SWIFT ISO 20022 as prime communication standard.

Please find more details and relevant information in the following sections:

• Contact – how to get in contact with OeKB CSD in case of questions/requests
• Scope – in-depth overview of upcoming changes
• Timeline and Status – project timeline and key dates
• Market Participation – key dates and facts relevant for various market stakeholders
• FAQs – frequently asked questions and answers
• Documents and Links – references and links to relevant documents and publications

Scope

The Issuer Platform of OeKB CSD will provide a central go-to point for issuers to manage the lifecycle of their securities. 
Three communication channels will be supported: 

• a browser-based user interface – the Issuer Client – that will allow issuers to access all functionalities available
• SWIFT ISO 20022 via the ocsd.iso CUG that will allow issuers to change the volume of certain securities in a STP manner
• a highly specialized batch interface to support bulk deposits

The following description will give you a quick overview of 

1. changes to existing settings – improvements that might directly impact existing business processes between OeKB CSD and her clients,
2. addons – improvements that might provide opportunities to optimize and extend the business processes between OeKB CSD and her clients and
3. invariants – (selected) business processes or settings that will not be affected by the project.

The categorization and listing shall enable stakeholders to determine 

• whether their business process relationships with OeKB CSD are likely to be impacted by the project and
• what level of adjustment to own processes and systems might be required to best align with OeKB CSD’s digitalization effort (1 – immediate action likely required, 2 – mediate action recommended, 3 – no action required).

Ad 1. Changes to existing settings – improvements that might directly impact existing business process between OeKB CSD and their clients

Changes to the issue of a physical securities certificates (i.e. securities certificates to be deposited physically in paper form in the vault of OeKB CSD)

OeKB CSD will continue to support the process of depositing physical securities certificates to its vault – supporting all security types that are currently offered.

The planned changes will ensure that the tools to be used and the process during the deposit process are state of the art and will be further streamlined.

The deposit of a financial instrument, represented by physical securities certificates, must be instructed by the security account owner via the SSS. At the same time the physical securities certificates shall be submitted to OeKB CSD's vault. The physical securities certificates must be accompanied by a printout of the SSS' RFP-instruction.

Physical securities certificates can further be directly deposited with OeKB CSD's vault and its face quantity can be managed through the Issuer Platform, either via GUI or SWIFT MT/MX (see "Quantity Change").

Changes to the withdrawing of securities certificates from the vault of OeKB CSD 

OeKB CSD will continue to support the process of withdrawing physical securities certificates from its vault - supporting all security types that are currently offered. 

The planned changes will ensure that the tools to be used and the process during the withdrawal process are state of the art and will be further streamlined.

The withdrawal of a financial instrument, represented by physical securities certificates, must be instructed by the security account owner via the SSS. The instruction must contain the desired way of delivery. If there is no addressee for the physical delivery quoted in the instruction, OeKB CSD considers the security to be picked up by carrier. The carrier must provide the printout of the SSS instruction, to get the securities handed over.

Changes to the bulk deposits process

In future, the Issuer Client will be used for the process of bulk deposits for convenient exception handling and error correction.

While the inbound communication channel and format will remain unchanged, the error handling will be improved by allowing direct error correction in the user interface.
The technical interface will no longer require complex state tracking and error information so analysis by the issuers (agents) are not necessary.

Ad 2. Addons – improvements that might provide opportunities to optimize and extend the business processes between OeKB CSD and their clients

Issue of digital securities certificates (i.e. securities certificates that are not paper-based and that are physically deposited in the vault of OeKB CSD) 

Reflecting recent developments in the respective law, OeKB CSD will support the issue of digital securities certificates via the Issuer Client. 

In future, digital securities certificates can either be issued individually (see below) or as bulk deposits (see above). 

This paragraph is concerned with the individual digital issue which can be processed conveniently via the Issuer Client.

Communicating information on events of securities categories to OeKB CSD via the Issuer Client

In future, it will be possible for issuers and their agents, to directly provide information on (sets of) events of securities categories directly to OeKB CSD using convenient web-based user interfaces of the Issuer Client.

The Distribution Account (planned as of Q2/2023)

With the introduction of the Distribution Account, OeKB CSD will enable issuers (agents) to follow market needs more dynamically with new issues – in an extraordinarily cost-efficient way.

It will provide

• the one-time preparation of a security issue (in T2S) and 
• subsequent on-demand performance of rapid self-service issues.

Option to empower dedicated agents

OeKB CSD’s Issuer Platform will provide an elaborate concept of agency and multilateral empowerment which will allow issuers to transparently delegate specific tasks and duties to their business partners.

Income collection for securities due process

In future, paying agents will be able to flag upcoming payments using the Issuer Client.

Ad 3. Invariants – (selected) business processes or settings that will not be affected by the project

Possibility to issue physical securities certificates

OeKB CSD will continue to support the process of depositing physical securities certificates to its vault – supporting all security types that are currently offered.

Timeline and Status

• January 2021: Start of Implementation Project
• March 2021: Stakeholder Onboarding
• Currently: Implementation and Solution Adoption
• May 2022: Begin of Market Testing
• November 2022: Planned Go-Live

FAQs

Q: Will the introduction of the Issuer Portal change the way ISINs are requested and allocated?
A: No. The process of ISIN allocation remains unchanged. 
A thorough documentation of the current (and future) process can be found here: ISIN allocation

For issuer convenience, the Issuer Portal will allow issuers to directly access the ISIN Services web application via an embedded hyperlink – registration with latter service presumed – and manage the ISIN allocation request therein end-to-end.

Distribution Account

Q: When can these accounts be opened?
A: Currently, the use of distribution accounts will not be possible immediately with the go-live of the Issuer Platform. We expect the possibility of using them from Q2/2023.

Q: In what form should the creation of distribution accounts be ordered?
A: GTC Appendix 13, like any other account.

Q: Are multiple distribution accounts (e.g. per issuer) possible?
A: For the time being, the use of distribution accounts is limited to Transfer Agents (TAs). A maximum of one distribution account can be used per TA.

Q: Are the balances on the distribution account considered during coupon or redemption collection?
A: The balances on the distribution account are not considered during coupon or redemption collection. I.e. they are neither taken into account in the calculation of the collection nor displayed on the collection letter.

General Terms and Conditions

All relevant documents can be found in the section General Terms and Conditions .

Introduction to Issuer Platform (Presentation)

• Introduction to Issuer Platform

Instructions for the Implementation of User Permissions on the Issuer Platform Client

• Instructions for the Implementation of User Permissions on the Issuer Platform Client - Testing System (only in German)
• Instructions for the Implementation of User Permissions on the Issuer Platform Client - Production (only in German)

Instructions for Deposit/Distribution of physical certificates and Increasing/Reduction of Face Quantity

• Issuer Platform - Deposit/Distribution - Increasing/Reduction (only in German)