Asset servicing - Direct link to SIX SIS - Switzerland
Reference
Please refer to the CBL Client Handbook or CEU OneClearstream Client Handbook, as applicable, for information about processing, reporting and connectivity for asset servicing.
Income collection
Debt securities
| Service offered | Remarks |
| Notification to clients | |
Standard Asset Servicing reporting via Swift MT56x, Xact Web Portal and Xact File Transfer. | See Section “Asset servicing” of the relevant Client Handbook. See Connectivity manuals on the Clearstream website. |
| Payment of proceeds | |
According to Swiss market practice, holdings that are entitled to participate in an entitlement are stored as of start of day processing on ex-date. Interest on Swiss bonds are calculated based on the positions on the record date as defined above and paid to the client's account upon successful receipt and reconciliation of funds. Proceeds will be paid with the value with which they are received. Funds under the Available for Cash Loan (ACL) concept, when applicable, are paid with good value. The payment method to be applied is reported via MT564 IPAR and Xact Web Portal IPAR. | For further details on entries qualified as ACL, please refer to the section “Financing: availability of funds” of the relevant Client Handbook. |
Entitlements are distributed automatically to all participants with a holding of the respective security on the Record date.
Market Record date | Ex-date | Basis for entitlement | Standard interest calculation rule | |
Coupon payment | Payment date -1 | Not applicable | Security position on Record date | 30/360 but there may be exceptions in line with the terms and conditions of the bonds |
Equities
| Service offered | Remarks |
| Notification to clients | |
Standard Asset Servicing reporting via Swift MT56x, Xact Web Portal and Xact File Transfer. | See Section “Asset servicing” of the relevant Client Handbook.. See Connectivity manuals on the Clearstream website. |
| Payment of proceeds | |
According to Swiss market practice, holdings that are entitled to participate in an entitlement are stored as of start of day processing on ex-date. Proceeds are calculated based on the positions recorded at the close of business on the record date and paid to the client's account upon successful receipt and reconciliation of funds. Proceeds will be paid with the value with which they are received. Funds under the Available for Cash Loan (ACL) concept, when applicable, are paid with good value. The payment method to be applied is reported via MT564 IPAR and Xact Web Portal IPAR. | For further details on entries qualified as ACL, please refer to the section “Financing: availability of funds” of the relevant Client Handbook. |
Income payments in foreign currencies may, in exceptional circumstances, be subject to delays and will be paid upon receipt only.
Entitlements are distributed automatically to all participants with a holding of the respective security on the Record date.
Market Record date | Ex-date | Basis for entitlement | Standard interest calculation rule | |
Dividend payment | Ex date +1 | Payment date -2 | Security position on Record date | Not applicable |
Corporate actions
| Service offered | Remarks |
| Notification to clients | |
Clearstream advises clients of their entitlement to participate in Swiss corporate actions (including, but not limited to, rights issues, stock split and tender offer). |
|
| Instruction to Clearstream | |
Clients may instruct Clearstream to carry out options foreseen in the terms and conditions of the underlying type of security. These options include, but are not limited to, put options, conversions, exercises of warrants, exchanges, detachment of warrants etc. | Please refer to the above for the BPUT/CONV events. In addition, Clearstream informs clients, on an “as and if received” basis, of unscheduled securities events occurring on account holdings, such as rights offer, reinvestment options, exchange offers, purchase offers, mergers etc. |
All corporate actions are processed by SIX SIS AG on behalf of and in collaboration with the Swiss main paying agents.
Market Record date | Ex-date | Basis for entitlement | |
Any corporate action | Ex date +1 | Payment date -2 | Security position generally at the beginning of Ex-date |
Sale and purchase of rights
Please refer to the relevant Client Handbook.
General meeting service
Scope
Swiss domestic securities
- Bearer shares: Voting services will be provided; no registration will be required.
- Registered shares: Both registration and voting services will be provided and handled at the beneficial owner level or at nominee level if such is permitted by the company as per its article of association.
- Bonds: Bondholder meetings will be handled via a Corporate Action event CONS VOLU using the MT messages in ISO 15022 or MX equivalent for Corporate Action. It may include incentive premiums where applicable. If PROX and/or SPLI options are announced, it would be reported via CONY option as part of the CONS VOLU event.
Foreign securities held with SIX SIS AG
Clearstream generally supports voting for cross-border securities (that is, those not held in their home market) on a "best-efforts" basis, and only if the Investor CSD supports it. Clients should be aware that service availability for those securities may vary, and some restrictions may apply.
Meeting event notification
A Meeting event on the Swiss equities will be announced to clients in the General Meeting Notification via seev.001, MT564+ or Xact Web Portal, as per clients’ reporting subscription.
The General Meeting Notification on the Swiss registered shares will include in addition the Registration Securities Deadline and Registration Securities Market Deadline.
Note: Registration for the General meetings is mandatory for those shares on the Swiss market.
Voting instruction processing
Swiss bearer shares
The standard Clearstream requirements for Vote/Proxy/Attendance Instructions will apply.
Registration will not be applicable, therefore the securities registration field must not to be filled in.
If the Beneficial Owner (BO) disclosure is required, at least the following BO details must be provided in the structured fields of the General Meeting instruction:
For natural persons:
- Name
- Surname
- Town
- Country
- Identification
For legal persons:
- Company Name
- Town
- Country
- Identification
Swiss registered shares
Clients will be required to submit two separate instructions:
One for temporary securities registration; and
One for Vote/Proxy/Attendance instruction. The latter should include the Shareholder ID (Skontro number) provided as the response to the temporary registration.
This applies to all Swiss domestic registered shares, where Securities Registration Deadline and Registration Securities Market Deadline is populated in the Meeting Notification.
The submission of the two-purpose instruction (for example, VoteWithRegistration or ProxyWithRegistration) will not be allowed and will be rejected.
Step 1: Temporary Registration Instruction
Securities registration request instruction (seev.004) must include Securities Registration flag “TRUE”. Clients instructing via Xact Web Portal must populate the respective flag in the GUI.
Instruction (per single instruction ID) must be at single beneficial owner (BO) level, one owner per instruction.
Registration Instructions with multiple BOs will not be supported.
In case of joint ownership, the registration must be requested for only one of the joint owners.
Registration on the Nominee Level is supported only if this is permitted by the company.
The following mandatory beneficial owner details will be required to be provided in the Rights Holder block in the respective standardised fields:
For legal persons:
- Name
- Address - Post CodeAddress - Town Name
- Address - Country
- Address - Street Name and Building Number (Building Number is optional, but to be added if available)
- Identification (LEI recommended. If no LEI is available, either the National Registration Number from the Commercial Register or Tax ID)
For natural persons:
- First Name and Last Name
- Address - Post Code
- Address - Town Name
- Address - Country
- Address - Street Name and Building Number (Building Number is optional, but to be added if available)
- Identification (for example, Passport or social security number)
- Date of birth
The registration request instruction must not include participation method, vote, proxy or physical attendance details.
Step 2: Temporary Registration Confirmation
Clearstream will validate and record the instruction. Upon successful validation/positioning, the position will be blocked and reported in the Instruction Status using the seev.006/Xact Web Portal with the status PACK and with a reference of the blocking instruction. Once the confirmation of registration is received from SIX SIS AG, clients will receive the Instruction Status via the seev.006 with the status REGM and including the assigned Shareholder ID, which will be also visible in the Xact Web Portal.
Step 3: Voting Instruction
Voting, Proxy or Attendance instructions must only be sent after the temporary registration has been processed and the Shareholder ID (Skontro number) has been provided. Instructions sent before the temporary registration has been confirmed and/or without Shareholder ID (Skontro number) will be rejected.
Note: Clients who are permanently registered do not require the temporary registration, but should include their Shareholder ID (Skontro number) obtained from the permanent registration in their voting instruction providing the respective BO details used for the registration.
Clients’ Voting instruction (seev.004) must include the Shareholder ID (Skontro number) received following the submission of the temporary registration request instruction (or available from clients’ permanent registration) and the BO details previously provided in the registration request instruction (or in the permanent registration request). Clients instructing via Xact Web Portal must populate the required fields in the GUI.
There must be a one-to-one relationship between registration and voting instructions at beneficial owner level, including the instructed quantity.
Clients should not override the registered position.
Step 4: Deregistration
The deregistration and the unblocking of the positions will be processed automatically by Clearstream on the meeting date plus one business day upon receipt of the deregistration confirmation from the market.
Cancellation of the registration request instruction would trigger the deregistration of the position. Cancellation of the registration request if the registration has already been forwarded to the share registrar, can lead to the cancellation rejection.
Note: The registered position is blocked and not available for settlement. To allow settlement, the clients will need to deregister their position by cancelling the registration request instruction. This is possible once the registration process is completed at the registrar, the Shareholder ID (Skontro number) received by the client and the Registration Securities Market Deadline has passed.
Deregistration after the Registration Securities Market Deadline does not affect the rights holder’s eligibility to participate in the meeting event.
If the registration process has not yet started, the client can cancel the registration request instruction that would be processed automatically.
General Authorisation for Registration Form (GEE)
A share register may ask to get a copy of a General Authorisation for Registration Form (GEE) for every pending registration. For example, real estate companies may request to provide a GEE form for each registration due to the Swiss Federal Act on the Acquisition of Immovable Property in Switzerland by Foreign Non-Residents.
This form must be filled in at beneficial owner level and must be provided along with the intermediaries’ chain immediately upon request. If the form cannot be provided in a timely manner, it could have an impact on the registration instruction processing and by consequence to the vote instruction or participation in the meeting event in general.
The template of the GEE Form can be downloaded below.
Clearstream highly recommends ensuring corresponding GEE Forms are at hand before sending it the registration instructions. If requested, those forms would need to be sent to Clearstream via email and without any delay.
For further information, please refer to the General Meeting Detailed Functional Specifications published on the website.
Transaction management
Please refer to the Transaction Management Rules – Switzerland.
Tax services
Please refer to the Market Taxation Guide - Switzerland
