Press Release: Competition: Commission publishes report on EU securities trading, clearing and settlement arrangements

The European Commission on 2 August 2005 published a report compiled on securities trading, clearing and settlement arrangements for bonds and equities in the 25 EU countries. On the basis of this report the Commission was planning to work closely with national competition and regulatory authorities to ensure that possible barriers to cross-border competition are monitored and if necessary investigated. The arrangements for these services are complex, varying from country to country, and this was the first authoritative analysis of the markets from a competition standpoint at the national and pan-European levels.