With respect for the tradition, Euronext Securities Oslo, together with its partners, hosted the annual Post Trade Norway conference on 4^th March this year.

This was the fifth conference in a row, and this year the interest was greater than ever with almost 200 entries and 150 participants. Unlike previous years, this year’s conference was conducted corona friendly on Teams.

Participants were given the pleasure of listening to exciting and focused lectures, from key persons in the Norwegian, Nordic and international securities markets. There were a number of relevant topics. We started with a review of the 2020 stock exchange year seen from Oslo Børs, and then transitioned to European regulations and harmonisation initiatives, not to mention what these mean for the Norwegian post trade market. Secondly, we learned about two exciting development projects from SWIFT and SIX respectively. Finally, Euronext Securities Oslo shared its thoughts and reflections on trends and developments in the market.

Euronext Securities Oslo notifies proposed changes to the VPS Rules on Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions. We ask that any comments on the proposals are received by Euronext Securities Oslo by 19 May 2021

Under the current VPS Rules and General Terms and Conditions, account operators must comply with the obligations to which a securities register is subject pursuant to the Norwegian Anti-Money Laundering Act or equivalent foreign regulations. This arrangement is not in accordance with the new Anti-Money Laundering Act, pursuant to which it is the account operators of a securities register that uses external account operators that are subject to the obligations specified in the Act, not the securities register itself. Euronext Securities Oslo is thus proposing that its rules should be changed such that it is account operators that are obliged entities that have to comply with the obligations contained in the Norwegian Anti-Money Laundering Act or equivalent foreign regulations, in accordance with the new Act.

Securities fund management companies are, together with account operators investor, obliged entities for shareholders of the securities funds they manage. Normally, a securities fund management company applies customer due diligence measures for shareholders when they subscribe for units and before a customer relationship is established. This, however, is not possible where an account operator investor transfers fund units from one account to another account. Where a recipient of such a transfer is not yet a customer of the securities fund management company concerned, such a transfer means that the securities fund management company is not in compliance with the requirements of the new Anti-Money Laundering Act. Euronext Securities Oslo therefore proposes changing the VPS Rules for Registration of Financial Instruments and the General Terms and Conditions such that it is the party carrying out such a transfer that, once it has obtained consent from the recipient of the transfer, provides the securities fund management company with the requisite information, and that it should not be permitted to transfer the fund units without first securing the approval of the securities fund management company. Euronext Securities Oslo also proposes that the party transferring the fund units should also provide the information and documentation that has to be obtained pursuant to the Norwegian Tax Administration Act regarding where account holders and beneficial owners are resident/domiciled for tax purposes and whether they are American citizens (CRS/FATCA). 

The relationship between Euronext Securities Oslo and its account operators with regard to the implementation of international sanctions is not currently regulated in either the VPS Rules or the General Terms and Conditions. Euronext Securities Oslo proposes inserting into these two documents a stipulation that Euronext Securities Oslo shall conduct searches in the international sanctions lists published by the EU, the UN and the USA, and a stipulation that if Euronext Securities Oslo or an account operator becomes aware that an issuer or account holder may be subject to international sanctions, they shall inform each other of this. Euronext Securities Oslo also proposes that account operators should be required to ensure that they take the measures needed to uncover whether issuers and account holders are subject to such sanctions, and to implement the sanctions required.

Consultation on AML and Sanctions (pdf)

Euronext is pleased to announce that clearing arrangements are being put in place for the Euronext Growth Oslo Market (EGO), with the same interoperability as the other Oslo Børs Markets

The External User Acceptance platform (EUA) will be open for testing on 2 June 2021, and the target production date is 28 June 2021.

Clearing-enabled-for-Euronext-Oslo-Growth-Market

Euronext Securities Oslo has begun a partnership with OwnersRoom, a provider of platforms for investor-related processes. Through this collaboration, customers of OwnersRoom can access shareholder information registered in Euronext VPS directly from the OwnersRoom platform. The collaboration is part of an ongoing focus at Euronext Securities Oslo to work with Fintechs to bring greater value to investors and private companies.

Founded in 2017, OwnersRoom is an investor and deals platform that provides companies with tools to manage investor and funding processes professionally and efficiently. OwnersRoom customers with shares issued in Euronext Securities Oslo can now keep track of their shareholders and shareholder movements via the OwnersRoom platform. Read more about Ownersroom here.

The collaboration offers a number of benefits for both companies, shareholders, and other stakeholders, e.g.:

• The shareholder register managed in Euronext Securities Oslo is directly available for OwnersRoom customers, ensuring investors and other stakeholders are updated on current ownership – increasing shareholder interest and activating investor engagement
• Customers of OwnersRoom are provided a seamless feed of the cap-table into their room from Euronext Securities Oslo, the golden standard for a shareholder register, removing the need for manually maintaining the shareholder register in OwnersRoom
• OwnersRoom offers a scalable solution for growth companies, now also enabling an easier transition for companies that want to use Euronext Securities Oslo to manage their shareholder register

Announcing a new brand name, Euronext Securities, for Euronext’s CSD activity.

Euronext Securities unites the four CSDs that now make up the Euronext CSD network: Euronext VPS (Norway), INTERBOLSA (Portugal), Monte Titoli (Italy), VP Securities (Denmark).

As a result, Euronext VPS is now called Euronext Securities Oslo.

The new name demonstrates our commitment to harmonise systems and processes across our CSDs, while keeping local expertise and presence at the core of our businesses.

Euronext press release 8 November 2021

Euronext Securities Oslo adopted 16 November 2021 the new VPO NOK Rules that will enter into force when authorized under CSDR. The VPO NOK Rules include provisions on penalties and buy-in, in sections 25-27 and 28 respectively. These provisions are included to comply with the settlement discipline regime that enters into force in the EU and Norway 1 February 2022.

in the EU, it is recently agreed to postpone the implementation of the buy-in rules in the CSDR, as it is probable that the revision of CSDR may change the buy-in regime. ESMA made 17 December 2021 a public statement where they state that ESMA expect national competent authorities not to prioritize supervisory actions in relation to the application of the CSDR buy-in regime. The Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority (NFSA) published a statement 21 December 2021 where they state that they have noticed the public statement made by ESMA, and that the NFSA on their part will not prioritize such supervision.

The public statement from the NFSA can be found here: Buy-in regimet i verdipapirsentralforordningen (CSDR) – Finanstilsynet.no

Based on the public statements made by the NFSA and ESMA, we have decided to repeal chapter 28 on buy-in from the VPO NOK Rules that will enter into force under CSDR. We have also taken out the footers on enter into force to sections 25, 26 and 27 on penalties.

Updated VPO NOK Rules under CSDR can be found here.

ES-OSL obtained on the 28 January approval from the Norwegian FSA (NFSA) to operate as a Central Securities Depository in accordance with EUs Central Securities Depositories Regulation, (CSDR), see letter from the NFSA below (only in Norwegian).

An overriding purpose of the regulation is to promote a secure, efficient and well-functioning securities settlement and recording of financial instruments.

CEO of Euronext Securities Oslo, Audun Bø, comments; «This is an important milestone for Euronext Securities Oslo. The CSDR license ensures our ability to offer a secure, transparent and efficient infrastructure with associated services to the Norwegian capital market, for the benefit of issuers, investors and market participants from all over the world.”

ES-OSL is authorized to perform the following core services:

• Initial recording of securities in a book-entry system (“notary service”);

• Providing and maintaining securities accounts at the top tier level (“central maintenance service”)

• Operating a securities settlement system (“settlement service”).

In addition, ES-OSL can continue to offer a wide range of ancillary services.

ES-OSL will implement CSDR from 1 March this year. From this date, new ES-OSL Rules (the Registration Rules and the VPO NOK Rules) will enter into force. The set of Rules are available on ES-OSL’s website together with other relevant CSDR information.

From the same date, transitional rules will be introduced for non-Norwegian issuers of shares that have recorded shares in ES-OSL’s register according to the so-called Singel Securities Link method. This includes instruments where the Issuer Account Operator acts as ES-OSL’s nominee through being recorded as the holder in the issuer’s Register of Members, enabling the recording in ES-OSL. The transitional period will expire 31 December 2022.

In connection with the introduction of CSDR, the NFSA has set a condition that Account Operators shall publish their prices (point C. in the permit from the NFSA). ES-OSL will include this condition in the Registration Rules from 1 June this year.

ES-OSL confirms that CSDR settlement discipline will be introduced from 1 March.

ES-OSL wants to thank all Account Operators and Settlement Participants for their cooperation in the implementation phase of CSDR.

Letter from Norwegian FSA

Euronext Securities Oslo has just released a brand new Data Services page in the VPS Issuer Services application

During the last years, Euronext Securities Oslo has seen both the need and demand for our clients and registered companies to have a better overview of their security and related data. Not just the big events, but day-to-day operations. The value of having complete insight over your own data is assessed to be of high importance, and we’ve now made it a lot easier to get this form of insight. The products available on the new Data Services page are developed to create value-added services for our clients. With an easy click and subscribe function directly in the application, targeted products to meet different needs, and with a short delivery, frequency and cancellation periods on-demand, we are confident that our issuers will find our products valuable in the administration of their security going forward.

Four products are available on the Data Services page in our first release. They are:

Equity Pulse

• A weekly snapshot of the performance of your security. Delivered as a pdf report every Monday morning. Learn more here.

Top 20 Shareholders

• The required top 20 largest shareholders in a daily feed that can be displayed on your website.

Top Shareholder Changes

• The 50 biggest changes in your shareholder base, via a daily feed. Covers changes that are larger than NOK 100,000 or 0.01% of the market value. Learn more here

Shareholder Feed

• A daily feed of your entire shareholder base. Often used for internal analysis or publication on websites. Learn more here

Want to learn more about what we can offer in terms of data products? Contact us at: data.vps@euronext.com