Central Securities Depository of the Slovak Republic

The Central Securities Depository of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred as to “central depository”) is a joint stock company with its registered office in the territory of the Slovak Republic. The activity of the central depository follows on the continuous basis the activities of its predecessor, the Securities Centre of the Slovak Republic which was founded on 22 December 1992 by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic. The central depository performs its activity according to the Act No. 566/2001 Coll. on Securities and Investment Services (hereinafter referred as to “Securities Act”), Operations Rules of Central Depository and licence granted on 19 March 2004.

The licence to operate the central depository was granted on 28 August 2003 by the Financial Market Authority which was the subject responsible for the supervision of financial market in the area of the capital market at that time.

With respect to the licence the central depository can perform the following activities:

• record book-entry securities and immobilized securities in issuers’ registers;
• register owners of book-entry securities in owner’s accounts, and information on securities in client accounts of its members, in the extent defined in Securities Act;
• register changes in owner’s accounts in the extent defined in Securities Act and clients accounts of its members;
• register data concerning book-entry securities and immobilised securities in the extent defined in Securities Act;
• assign, change and cancel ISIN numbers;
• provide services to members of the central depository, securities issuers, the stock exchange, and foreign stock exchanges in accordance with Securities Act;
• provide for and organise a system for technical data processing involved in the keeping of records according to the Securities Act;
• ensure the clearing and settlement of stock exchange transactions in financial instruments, and the clearing and settlement of transactions in financial instruments on the client’s request; ensuring clearing and settlement of such transactions means organising and operating a system of clearing and settlement for transactions in financial instrument (hereinafter referred to as the “settlement system”) for at least three part participants in the settlement system;
• open and keep accounts for holders;
• record changes in holder’s accounts;
• keep lists of shareholders for registered paper shares;
• register other information, as required in Securities Act or in a separate law.

Apart from the above mentioned activities the central depository may also:

• provide the payment of nominal value of securities and payment of income on securities after their maturity, as well as other related activities on the issuer’s request;
• open and maintain an owner’s account for a central depository and ensure the related services;
• keep record of financial instruments other than securities in the owners’ accounts and information on such financial instruments in the customer’s accounts of the members;
• carry out administration of financial instruments for the account of clients;
• open an account with a foreign legal person whose business is equivalent to that of a central depository, with a foreign bank or with a foreign securities dealer and provide related services; the applicable law for this account shall be that under which was founded the foreign legal person, foreign bank or foreign securities dealer that opened the account; for the central depository, and the applicable law for the keeping of data on the owner of the security shall be that of the Slovak Republic.

According to the Article 130 paragraph (3) of Securities Act, the Board of Directors of the central depository is obliged to submit to the National Bank of Slovakia for approval a draft of operating rules and any amendments thereof and to announce any changes in the facts stated in the Article 100 paragraph (3) letter a), b) and d) of Securities Act.

According to Securities Act the central depository may establish and maintain the following types of accounts:

• – owner’s account in accordance with Article 150 of Securities Act,
• – member’s client account in accordance with 106 of Securities Act,
• – holder’s account in accordance with 105a of Securities Act.

The central depository may open an owner’s account for each member, public authority acting on behalf of the Slovak Republic and the National Property Fund of the Slovak Republic. A member of central depository may open an owner’s account for legal persons or for natural persons. In each owner’s account the central depository or a member of central depository shall record information on class of securities and number of units of securities on the given account.

The central depository may open a member’s client account only for a member. In each member’s client account the central depository shall record information on class of securities and number of units of securities registered by the member of central depository on the member’s client accounts. The central depository does not know the end owners of securities registered on the member’s client accounts.

The central depository may open a holder’s account for the central depository only or for a foreign legal person with a similar scope of business. The central depository may also open a holder’s account for a securities dealer or for a bank authorised to perform the ancillary service of custodianship, and a foreign securities dealer or a foreign bank authorised to perform an ancillary service such as custodianship. A holder’s account is an account belonging to a person in which a central depository records information on securities whose owners are registered with the person for whom the account was opened. Information on the owner of a security shall be kept in the records of a securities dealer under Article 71h paragraph (2) of Securities Act, or in equivalent records in accordance with the same legal system under which the foreign securities dealers were founded, or in records established under the same legal system in which the foreign legal person was founded for whom the holder’s account was opened.

According to the Article 45 paragraph (2) of Securities Act the central depository shall keep the lien register.

With the effect as of 16 March 2006 the Bratislava Stock Exchange became the 100% shareholder of the central depository, as a result of depositing of ownership interest of the state on central depository business activities into the stock exchange share capital.

The share capital of the central depository is 10 489 304 €.

For further information on to the central depository see http://www.cdcp.sk/english/.