Launch of a public consultation on the CCBM2 User Requirements

On 8 March 2007 the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to review the Eurosystem’s current collateral management handling procedures, in particular the present correspondent central banking model (CCBM). A medium-term project for the next generation of collateral management has since been launched under the name “Collateral Central Bank Management” (CCBM2). CCBM2 is a common platform for Eurosystem collateral management, which may be used by the Eurosystem NCBs on a voluntary basis. Its objective is to consolidate and increase the efficiency of the Eurosystem’s internal systems for collateral management. In particular, it aims, to the extent possible, to address the drawbacks identified in the current set-up by optimising the cost of mobilising collateral and by enhancing liquidity management. CCBM2 will be based on existing systems such as that of the Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique and De Nederlandsche Bank. Work will be conducted in parallel with the TARGET2-Securities (T2S) project in order to exploit all possible synergies and avoid any overlap.

The ECB is today publishing the draft CCBM2 user requirements for public consultation.

The user requirements document contains a management summary followed by nine chapters describing the features of the CCBM2 in more detail. Specific user cases are set out in an annex. It should be noted that some of the features described in the user requirements document are currently being explored by the Eurosystem and thus may be subject to revision at a later stage.

The Eurosystem is inviting market participants to comment on the draft CCBM2 user requirements by 5 May 2008 at the latest. The Eurosystem will then assess the comments received during the public consultation and submit a proposal for the CCBM2 user requirements to the Governing Council.

Further information can be found in the above-mentioned documents. Any comments received will be published on the ECB’s website, unless it is clearly indicated that the author does not consent to such publication. Comments should be submitted in English or the relevant official language of the EU and sent either to the ECB at the following address:

European Central BankSecretariat DivisionKaiserstrasse 29D-60311 Frankfurt am MainGermanyFax: +49 69 1344 6170E-mail: ecb.secretariat@ecb.int

or to the relevant national central bank of the Eurosystem.