In March 1998, the Bank of England issued a consultation document, which sought the views of participants in the gilt, equity and money markets on the priority of various developments to the UK's securities settlement infrastructure. These included: merger between CREST and the Central Gilts Office (CGO); integration of money market settlement arrangements; enhancement of Delivery versus Payment (DvP); and linkages with overseas markets. The purpose of the Review was to identify, at a high level, a development pathway which would ensure that the UK's settlement infrastructure matches or exceeds international best practice and supports London's role as the pre-eminent international financial centre.

Responses to the consultation paper were reviewed by a steering group chaired by Alastair Clark, the Bank's Executive Director for Financial Stability, and comprising representatives of CGO , Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited (formerly CRESTCo) , HM Treasury , the Financial Services Authority and the Debt Management Office . The group's conclusions were set out in a further document, published in September 1998, which summarises and assesses the results of the exercise, and makes a number of recommendations on the next steps.

With the successful transfer of money market settlement arrangements to CREST in September/October 2003 the main recommendations of the review have now been implemented.

For further information on the exercise, please e-mail Alastair Wilson on alastair.wilson@bankofengland.co.uk or send correspondence to: Payment & Settlement Policy Division (BB-M), Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 2AH, UK.

Key Resources

	MMI Migration Marks Completion of UK Securities Settlement Consolidation News Release, 16 October 2003 View
	Securities Settlement Priorities Review Consultation paper, March 1998 (285k) Download PDF
	Report of the Securities Settlement Priorities Review September 1998 (232k) Download PDF
	Future of Money Market Instruments View