The German CSD model
Clearstream Banking AG in Frankfurt is the CSD in Germany. It serves as the issuer CSD for debt, equities, investment funds, warrants and structured products issued by German and international financial institutions and corporates. For example, German government bonds are deposited in its vaults in Frankfurt.
While Clearstream's CSD in Germany mainly supports issuance and settlement in Euro central bank money, it also accepts securities denominated in many other currencies thanks to its cooperation with Clearstream’s ICSD.
Securities issued through Clearstream Banking AG are held in collective safe custody on our local settlement platform for OTC and stock exchange transactions. Issuers and holders of registered shares can benefit from special CASCADE-RS registration services.
Clearstream’s CSD in Germany also offers special services for ETF issuance. Thanks to a so-called optimised holding structure for Irish ETFs, shares can be issued directly into the CSD in Germany without separate DE-ISINs.
Issues in bearer global note form are directly deposited in the vaults. However, the issuance of physical certificates remains possible if so required by the issuer.
Clearstream's CSD in Germany is part of Clearstream’s Global Issuer Hub which brings issuers and investors together and acts as a gateway to Clearstream’s entire suite of services. Once the issuance has been distributed, customers have access to our leading liquidity and collateral management as well as asset services. It is noteworthy that eligibility of securities at Clearstream Banking AG not only gives an issuer access to Clearstream’s systems, it is also a prerequisite for listing on the major German stock exchanges.
Once T2S is implemented, issuers will be able to use Clearstream's CSD in Germany as their entry point to the pan-European settlement platform and manage the entire issuance cycle throughout the Euro area, from eligibility checks to distribution, from one single point of access.