International business boycotts against Russia notwithstanding, the country’s central securities depository NSD stands as one of two “gold sponsors” as the Association of Eurasian Central Securities Depositories (AECSD) gathers in Armenian capital Yerevan for a yearly conference on 3–4 November.
[This article was updated later on the day of publication, after receiving comment from Clearstream.]
The conference is officially organised by Armenian exchange subsidiary Central Depository of Armenia together with the AECSD secretariat. According to a press release, its two gold sponsors are Ameriabank CJSC and the National Settlement Depository of the Russian Federation (NSD).
This year’s issue of the forum, numbered its 18th, is themed “How to withstand market fluctuations? Challenges and Solutions”. The CDA promotes it as “a great opportunity for Armenia to find allies and establish new cooperations in the financial market”.
This Armenian news-agency rewrite shows the AECSD logo including a map of the Eurasian continent in blue, with its borders unclear towards the rest of the world. An area from Britain to Russia, India and China seems included in full colour, in any case. However, the scope of the conference seems centered on ex-Soviet states: “The forum will bring together speakers from Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Tajikistan, and other countries, as well as from Euroclear and Clearstream,” says the press release.
PostTrade 360° has reached out to Euroclear and Clearstream for possible descriptions or comments around their participation, and has so far received response from Clearstream: “As a vital member of the post-trading industry and observatory member of AECSD, Clearstream is committed to keeping up the dialogue with the financial community. However, we are closely following the current developments and ensuring full compliance with sanctions and restrictive measures as they evolve,” Clearstream’s spokesperson responds, adding the correction that the company’s representative on site in Yerevan does not have a speaker engagement.