New regulations on the Public Debt Book-Entry Market, currently awaiting approval, will bring about changes in the membership structure of the Spanish market.
The idea now is to split off the trading side from the settlement side, instead of running them together as at present. Their separation is essentially to reflect their different problems.
In the trading sphere, distinctions will cease to be made between the different types of institutions. Their capacity to operate in the market will not depend on the category assigned them by the market itself but on their articles of association, which specify the business activities each institution may engage in.
The new reform will introduce the figure of Market Member.
Market Members shall be those entities empowered to purchase and sell securities in the Public Debt Book-Entry Market, on their own or others' behalf, under the terms allowed by their legal regime.
The authorisation to act as a Market Member in the Public Debt Book-Entry Market shall be granted by the Minister of Economy and Finance, at the proposal of the Bank of Spain and subject to a report from the Securities and Exchange Commission, to companies meeting the requirements laid down and belonging to one of the following categories:
- 1. Securities brokers and companies
- 2. Spanish credit institutions, except finance corporations
- 3. Credit institutions authorised in another EU member state
- 4. Investment services firms authorised in another EU member state
- 5. Credit institutions and investment services firms authorised in a non EU member state
- 6. The European Central Bank and the central bank of EU member states
- 7. Other entities whose fixed-income securities may be admitted to trading in the Public Debt Market, providing their legal status allow them to be Members