PORTO, Portugal (Thomson Financial) - Portuguese finance minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, whose country holds the EU presidency, said European finance chiefs believe the code of conduct which has been put in place in Europe's clearing and settlement industry has boosted price transparency.
'The code of conduct results are positive, particularly as regards price transparency,' he told reports at the final news conference following an informal meeting of EU finance ministers and central bankers in Porto, northern Portugal.
He stressed the importance of enhancing post-trading market integration, 'in particular when it comes to clearing and settlement in cross-border transactions'.
Dos Santos added that industry must now do more to implement the final part of the code, which is designed to improve interoperability between exchanges, clearing houses and other players.
'We stressed the importance of overcoming the difficulties which have been standing in the way of (the code's) adoption,' he said, citing legal obstacles in particular.
EU internal markets commissioner Charlie McCreevy said the industry is succeeding in improving security and transparency in the sector.
'The industry is progressing very well... real progress has been made on price transparency,' he said.
The voluntary, industry-led code, which was launched last year, aims to cut the cost of trading shares between bourses in different EU member states by enhancing transparency and increasing competition in the post-trading sector.
Separately, Teixera dos Santos asked for the EU's economic and financial committee to give ministers an update on Target 2 Securities, the project for unifying the clearing and settlement operations for financial transactions throughout the euro zone, in October at their next meeting.
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said Target 2 should not work alongside, not conflict with, Central Securities Depository Systems (CSD).
'I reminded ministers and governors of what was behind (Target 2). It will not replace CSDs but complement them,' he said.
Trichet added that final consultations with industry players are planned by the end of this year and the new system should be available by 2013. frances.robinson@thomson.com fr/vm COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.