Finance:FASTER (NZX)

From HandWiki

FASTER settlement is a New Zealand-based financial settlement system operated by the New Zealand Exchange (NZX). It is based on the principles of delivery versus payment with simultaneous irrevocable transfer of securities and cash. FASTER is not a full central securities depository (CSD), because it does not record the holdings of all the shareholders. Only holdings belonging to participants are recorded in FASTER, holdings related to individual shareholders who are not participants are delegated to a number of registries.

The alternative settlement system in New Zealand is NZClear (previously known as Austraclear) system operated by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

History

FASTER settlement system was launched in May 1998 when the exchange moved to fully automated clearing and settlement of trades. This was after regional trading floors had been closed and all stocks were traded electronically since 1991.[1]

In 2008, The Reserve Bank of New Zealand characterised the FASTER system as "becoming obsolete" [2]

Participants

Participants include stockbrokers and financial institutions. Each participant has a Faster Transfer Account (FTA) where stock is held pending delivery to other participants or to owned accounts.

References