BME to settle the first NextGenerationEU bond auction for up to 1.5 billion euros

• The European Commission has announced the first NextGenerationEU bond auction for today
• Iberclear is launching its NextGenerationEU cross-border securities settlement and custody services through the latest link with its Belgian counterpart

BME will settle the first NextGenerationEU bond auction held today. In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, the NextGenerationEU ("NGEU") programme was approved to finance recovery initiatives while facilitating the green and digital transition of the European Union economy. Under the programme, the European Commission has announced that the first auction of NextGeneration bonds will take place today with a volume of up to €1.5 billion.

The European Central Bank is acting as paying agent and the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) as issuing Central Securities Depository (CSD) and settlement agent through the EU Issuance Service (EIS).

Under SIX's international strategy and the connection agreement reached in June last year between Iberclear, the Spanish CSD, and the Belgian CSD, National Bank of Belgium, Iberclear participants will be able to access these securities. On this occasion, primary dealers authorised by the European Commission will be able to participate in the auction between 09:45 and 12:00 and will be able to settle their resulting transactions using their Iberclear accounts. Moreover, as the link between Iberclear and NBB has been approved as eligible by the ECB, these securities can be used as collateral for monetary policy operations.

Belgium was the latest market to be added to those of Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Switzerland, with which Iberclear currently maintains a connection.