SIA in partnership with Colt wins the tender for the access network to TARGET2-Securities
 

SIA and Colt have been awarded a Network Service Provider license for the design, creation and management of the new infrastructure that will link central depositories, Eurosystem central banks and the leading European bank groups to TARGET2-Securities

Conceived by the European Central Bank, TARGET2-Securities is the project designed to create a single European platform for the settlement of securities transactions. It will be managed by four central banks (Banca d’Italia, Deutsche Bundesbank, Banque de France and Banco de Espana)

Milan and London, 9 January 2012 – SIA, in partnership with Colt, has won the tender for the license for the design, creation and management of the new network infrastructure to connect central depositories (CSDs), Eurosystem central banks and the leading European bank groups to TARGET2-Securities (T2S). The license was awarded by European Central Bank.

The TARGET2-Securities project was conceived in 2008 by the European Central Bank and will be managed by four central banks (Banca d’Italia, Deutsche Bundesbank, Banque de France and Banco de Espana). It will create a single European platform for the settlement of domestic and cross-border securities transactions and integrate post-trading infrastructures, which are still fragmented ten years after the introduction of the single currency. TARGET2-Securities is one of the initiatives for the creation of the single European market, which follows the introduction of the Euro, TARGET2, SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area)and PSD (Payment Services Directive).

The delivery of the new T2S platform is planned for mid-2015. According to European Central Bank figures, TARGET2-Securities will process a daily average of over 1 million securities transactions with positive effects on the costs of cross-border settlements, where it is forecast there will be a significant reduction.

The successful partnership between SIA and Colt, created for this project, reflects on the experience of both companies in providing highly secure, networked solutions to the financial services sector across the European markets.

SIA is one of the leading service providers in Europe in the banking and financial sectors and processes a daily average of over 3 million transactions through a proprietary network infrastructure (SIAnet) with two operational hubs, one in Milan and one in London.

Colt , Europe’s leading information delivery platform, is an established provider of managed services to the financial sector. It provides connectivity to a number of stock exchanges across Europe and some of the fastest connections between key trading capitals such as London and Frankfurt.

To allow access to T2S, the two companies will develop secure, high speed connectivity and messaging services in line with the requirements and specifications defined by the ECB. SIA and Colt’s network architecture will also permit CSDs (such as Montetitoli, Euroclear and Clearstream), central banks and the major banks operating at European level to access the new securities transactions settlement platform, while guaranteeing total security and privacy in the transmission of data, high reliability, performance and business continuity standards.

As stated in the tender, the license awarded to SIA and Colt will be valid from February 2012.

“This important success provides confirmation of our central role in Europe in the design and creation of infrastructures for financial and central institutions and recognition of a ‘made in Italy’ technology that is on equal terms with that of foreign players – declares Massimo Arrighetti, CEO of SIA – This result demonstrates our ability to compete on the market with internationally recognised companies. At the same time, it contributes to the creation of a network of excellence aimed at ongoing innovation and system improvement which is the objective of our partnership strategy.”

Simon Walsh, Executive Vice President, Colt comments: “T2S is a major project for the European securities industry. We are delighted – in conjunction with SIA – to have been awarded this license. Colt is a pan-European services provider and has been providing secure connectivity to the Financial Services community for nearly 20 years. Our success in winning this project in joint partnership with SIA recognises our depth of experience in the Financial Services sector and our ability to securely deliver information across Europe.”

The MasterCard and Maestro PayPass™ contactless payment system is now available in nearly 400 SPAR, Kaiser’s and INTERSPAR stores in Hungary by using MasterCard® and Maestro® bankcards, watches and stickers with this new technology.

SPAR is the first Hungarian retailer chain, who gives the customers the possibility to pay in any of the retail branches using contactless technology.

The new innovative technology ensures a more convenient and faster payment opportunity as well as a secure alternative of cash payments. The queuing time at the cashier is significantly reduced thus the shopping becomes a true experience at SPAR stores.

The advantage of paying by MasterCard PayPass and Maestro PayPass is that all that is required is to move the contactless solution to within a few centimeters from the terminal, if the total doesn't exceed 5,000 HUF in which case the PIN code will be required.  This action makes the average operation time under 5 seconds - according to MasterCard data. Higher amount may also be used when purchasing PayPass solution and in this case the PIN code is required.

The implementation of the acquiring network at all SPAR stores was completed by SIA Central Europe cPlc.

The mother company of SIA Central Europe, SIA is organizing an illustrious event, SIA EXPO on the  17th of October 2011, in Milan .