A head start for Europe as CSD's steam forward

As the brave new world of 24-hour trading, amalgamated global exchanges and ever greater retail participation in markets appears, few give much thought to the vital back room operations that support the investment merry-go-round. October 1987, when many market players were unable to settle paper-based transactions, seems a long time ago now. Post-1987, the Group of 30 countries called for an overhaul of settlement systems and made nine key recommendations, including one calling for "effective and fully developed" central securities depositories (CSDs). Ten years on, a report by consultants ...