ENDE
Announcement

Luxembourg: Reminder: Immobilisation of bearer shares and units issued by Luxembourg companies

Custody | Luxembourg

Reference

Code
A16028
Service level
CBL
Last Updated
12.02.2016

Further to Announcement A15243, dated 24 December 2015, and Announcement A14178, dated 22 December 2014, and A14138, dated 30 October 2014, we wish to provide a reminder of holders’ obligations in view of the approaching second deadline with regards to the Luxembourg Law on immobilisation of bearer shares and units issued by Luxembourg companies (the “Law”).

18 February 2016

Clearstream Banking1 reminds customers and their underlying clients that all physical bearer shares and units of Luxembourg companies that are still not immobilised by 18 February 2016 may be cancelled by the relevant issuer and that the holders may consequently lose their rights as shareholders/unitholders. The funds corresponding to the value of the cancelled shares/units must be deposited by the issuer at the Caisse des dépôts et consignations.

Since the publication of this Law, Clearstream has identified all impacted shares/units eligible in its system and undertook regular discussions with all relevant parties to clarify how each issuing company would wish to proceed to comply with the Law.

Please note that for some of those shares/units for which the issuers have decided to held all their shares/units via a newly appointed depository outside of Clearstream or to proceed with a conversion of shares/units into registered form, the corporate action notifications requesting a custody instruction from the holders have been released accordingly to the impacted clients.

This information has been provided to the best of Clearstream’s knowledge and based on the available information received from the issuers.

In the absence of information received from the issuer, securities will be by default immobilised in the Clearstream system as per the meaning of the Law, until further action is required by the issuers.

Please note that after this deadline of 18 February 2016 and as per the Law’s requirements, any external physical delivery to/from the vaults of Clearstream Banking of the concerned bearer shares/units will be restricted.

Following our legal interpretation of the Law, the clarification published in the Luxembourg draft Bill 6625 and the press release of CSSF 15/16:

  • The securities that are held within a recognised Securities Settlement System (SSS), and transfers made by book-entry, are to be considered as already immobilised within the meaning of the Law.
  • If a holding in bearer shares and units remains with CBL or CBF, no further action is required from issuers or from our customers or custodians with regards to this holding.

Further information

For more information from the market please refer to the below sources: 

For further information, customers may contact Clearstream Banking Client Services or their Relationship Officer.

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1. Clearstream Banking refers collectively to Clearstream Banking AG, registered office at 61, Mergenthalerallee, 65760 Eschborn, Germany and registered in Register B of the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany under number HRB 7500, and Clearstream Banking S.A., registered office at 42, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register under number B-9248.