Press Release: Securities markets: Commission proposes that the Community sign the Hague Securities Convention

The European Commission proposed on 15 December 2003 that the European Community should sign the Hague Convention, a multilateral treaty on determining the ownership of securities held in electronic form. The proposal takes the form of a draft Decision to be adopted by the EU's Council of Ministers authorising the signature of the Convention. The Convention provides a uniform legal formula for determining proprietary rights and will be particularly useful in cases where securities are held through a chain of financial intermediaries in different countries. When adopted, the Convention will affect a number of existing EU Directives, such as the Collateral Directive (2002/47/EC) and the Settlement Finality Directive (1998/26/EC). The signature of the Convention will send an important political signal to all parties concerned and in particular to the financial services industry, which widely supports its implementation.

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/internal_market/securities/hague/index_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/comm/internal_market/securities/hague/index_en.htm

---