The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a statement on how settlement fails should be treated under the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR) cash penalty mechanism following the recent major incident affecting TARGET Services (T2S and T2). ESMA clarifies that National Competent Authorities do not expect central securities depositories to apply cash penalties for settlement fails occurring on 27 and 28 February 2025. The incident was caused by a failure of an infrastructure component that adversely affected T2S and T2 on 27 February 2025, meaning settlement instructions, payments, ancillary system instructions and liquidity transfers between TARGET Services could not be processed for several hours. ESMA points to existing CSDR Q&A guidance that cash penalties should not be applied where settlement cannot be performed for reasons independent of the participants involved.
European Securities and Markets Authority 2025-03-14
European Securities and Markets Authority clarifies CSDR cash penalties are not expected for settlement fails on 27 and 28 February 2025 after TARGET Services incident
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) clarified that National Competent Authorities do not expect central securities depositories to apply cash penalties for settlement fails on 27 and 28 February 2025, following a major incident affecting TARGET Services. The incident, caused by infrastructure failure, disrupted settlement instructions and liquidity transfers. ESMA refers to existing CSDR guidance that exempts penalties when settlement fails are beyond participants' control.