Central Securities Depository

Providing a wide range of Depository services across many products, the Austraclear CSD holds in excess of A$1 trillion in securities and has over 700 Participants that are active within the System.

About the ASX Austraclear Depository

Austraclear holds more than 95% of the total issuance of Fixed Income Securities in the Australian Financial Markets offering participants the unique solution of holding these securities as a Nominee.  It also performs the function of Bailee (Custodians) to more than 85% of Commercial Paper issued in Australia such as Bills, CD's, Promissory Notes and their electronic forms.

Settled products include:

  • Fixed Income Securities
  • Short Dated Money Market instruments (Bills, CDs and PNs) 
  • SWAPs
  • FRAs
  • Foreign Exchange confirmations
  • Energy products and
  • soon to be implemented property settlements.

To make use of the CSD, debt instruments may either be lodged electronically or physically as is the case for Physical bills and PNs with ASX Austraclear. Use of a Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) Delivery versus Payment model (DvP) of settlement provides protection to all parties involved in the clearing and settlement of securities.

CSD Model

The ASX Austraclear Delivery Vs Payment (DvP) Model provides simultaneous gross settlement of securities with real time gross settlement (RTGS) of cash so that final transfers of assets or securities only occurs once the transfer of cleared payment funds is confirmed.

This simultaneous exchange coupled with the RTGS of inter-bank obligations, guarantees irrevocability and offers the highest level of customer protection available.

CSD Clients

The CSD service caters for a broad range of financial market products, e.g. settlement of debt issues for their Issuers and Investors, cash products and FX confirmations.

Likely Issuers and Investors would include: 

  • Local and international Financial Institutions 
  • Local and international Corporate Institutions 
  • Federal, State and Local Government 
  • Fund Managers 
  • Custodians

Issuers of the debt program do not need to be Austraclear participants however the electronic lodgement of the securities in the Austraclear System must be made by a participant on behalf of the Issuer.

Acceptable Securities

The ASX Austraclear Depository holds a broad range of $A-denominated securities, including:

  • Physical/Electronic - (uncertificated and certificated)
    • Physical/Electronic Certificates of Deposit
    • Physical/Electronic Promisory Notes
    • Physical/Electronic Bank accepted Bills of Exchange
  • Registered Securities
    • Registered Short Term Notes (STNs)
    • Fixed Income securities both fixed and Floating Rate Interest
      • Mortgage Backed Securities
      • Asset Backed Securities
      • CPI linked Bonds
      • Commonwealth Government Securities
      • Semi-Government Securities
      • CDOs

Euroentitlement service

The Euroentitlement service gives ASX Austraclear participants access to investment grade Australian dollar denominated securities deposited with the International Central Securities Depositories (Euroclear & Clearstream). It allows participants to settle A$ denominated Eurobonds on the books of ASX Austraclear in the same manner as a domestic Security.

Global trends in CSDs

Consistent with Global trends ASX Austraclear has undertaken several initiatives to improve the efficiency and cost of using the CSD, as well as ways to improve the access to and from the CSD to other international depositories. Two of these initiatives are De-materialisation and Cross-Border Linkages.