The upcoming Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS) joins the list of system launches that are put on a year’s delay in connection with the covid-19 crisis. The deadline is now November 2023, not 2022 as previously said.
The decision was recently taken by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB). Some time ago, the same body announced a one-year extension to the timeline for the project to consolidate its T2 and T2S systems.
“It addresses the concerns of market participants that the current adverse environment would hamper their preparations,” ECB observes.
ECMS is described as a unified system for managing assets used as collateral in Eurosystem credit operations, set to replace the 19 existing individual systems of the euro area national central banks.
“The ECMS is expected to deliver considerable benefits to the Eurosystem, its counterparties and the market more widely by harmonising collateral management practices and contributing to further EU financial integration.”
The delay to ECMS appears to be spilling over on the schedule for a related initiative to develop a “Single Collateral Management Rulebook for Europe”, SCoRE. The ECB notes that the involved market participants have asked to have that timeline adjusted too, and says that the Eurosystem has therefore initiated a discussion in its Advisory Group on Market Infrastructures for Securities and Collateral (AMI-SeCo).
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