France: French Registered Securities – Information on the registration process – Update
Note: This announcement, originally published on 12 October 2020, has been updated to inform customers that there is no change in the instruction format for the registration details. The changes have been highlighted.
Clearstream Banking1 would like to inform customers that effective
23 November 2020
with regard to continuous improvement of its service offering for French Registered Securities, it will also be taking into account the new standard applicable to the French market related to the registration process of joint accounts.
Background
To meet new civil rights requirements, French market standards related to the registration process are being enhanced.
As a consequence, all joint accounts opened in the issuer’s books, under the naming convention ‘’Mr. or Mrs.’’ (reflected under the code HTYP 08 in the registration process and Bordereau de Référence Nominative (BRN) issuance) are gradually being migrated, as the code HTYP 08 will progressively cease to exist on the market.
In France, issuers have already started and will continue to directly open all joint accounts with the holder type of each account holder (for example, HTYP 03 if Mr. and HTYP 04 if Mrs./Ms.) and ensuring that the appropriate account holder type is allocated to the account to reflect the characteristic of the joint account. Therefore, it will be possible to open an account for either ‘’Mr. or Mr. ‘’ or ‘’Mrs. or Mrs.’’ if need be.
Impact on customers
Clearstream Banking will comply with this market standard and ensure the maintenance of the Beneficial Owners (BOs) details for all positions registered in the name of the final multiple joint BOs. As such, Clearstream Banking will continue to have its books fully synchronised with the issuers’ books.
The steps to update the BO data related to the French Registered Shares will be deployed over the weekend of 21 November 2020. The BRN related to this migration will be released to the market on 23 November 2020. This update will be reflected on the report containing the BOs details for French Registered Securities as soon as the BRN has been accepted by the issuers. This may take up to several days.
For impacted customers, the change will be visible through the two distinct rows in the query “Registered Securities: Beneficial Owner Details” in Xact Web Portal. Each row contains the details of each holder.
Note: The market does not foresee applying this migration to BOs with a zero position. The market’s recommendation is to delete the details of those BOs as they are no longer considered to be as accurate with regards to the holder type.
Clearstream Banking will follow the market’s recommendations and customers’ reports will be updated accordingly.
Further information
Clearstream Banking would like to inform customers that there is no change in the instruction format for the registration details. This means that the minimum details for each beneficial owner of the joint account can be instructed individually.
Example: If an account is opened for Mr/Mrs Smith, the customer can instruct as follows:
- :70D::REGI///HTYP 03/NAME Smith/FNAM John/ICER 13090
Or - :70D::REGI///HTYP 04/NAME Smith/FNAM Jane/ICER 13090
Customers can refer to Settlement services French Registered Securities – France for more information on the service description.
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 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, and 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.