OREANDA-NEWS. April 02, 2012. National Settlement Depository (NSD), Russia's only settlement depository servicing the full range of debt and equity securities of Russian issuers, reports the results of the meeting of its Supervisory Board held 30 March. According to NSD, the members of the Board approved the company's development strategy for 2012-2015 and DCC's share acquisition transaction. In addition to this, the Supervisory Board made a decision to form NSD's Users Committee and to organize the important payment system which is to be run by NSD as an operator. The participants of the meeting also approved the company's Policy for Liquidity Risk Management and took into consideration the results of 1Q 2012 budget implementation.

Eddie Astanin, Chairman of the Executive Board, NSD, said: "NSD's mid-term development strategy approved by the Supervisory Board is our corporate frame of reference. It is crucially important that the members of the Supervisory Board representing interests of the market participants and their clients had taken part in the strategy development. This means that the strategy meets the shareholders' and market participants' needs. The approved balanced system of the indicators of the strategy's implementation motivates NSD's management and personnel to contribute to achievement of our strategic goals and accomplishment of our tasks." 

According to the strategy, by 2015 the company is to increase the value of assets on deposit by not less than RUB30 trillion and to reduce tariffs step by step in line with the growth of assets on deposit. NSD does not strive to maximize its profit at any cost. Its main task is to maintain a balance between financing the company's accelerated technological development and retaining an acceptable amount of the clients' expenses for the company's services at the allowable level of risk. NSD's target financial benchmark is ROE 15%.

The strategy pays great attention to the product range's expansion, including provision of high-tech services related to conducting the corporate actions and multi-currency settlements on transactions with Russian and foreign issuers' securities on DVP terms using SWIFT message format. The company plans to introduce services related to collateral management and to develop securities lending technology.

NSD's Supervisory Board approved an interested party transaction – the sale and purchase agreement concluded by NSD and OJSC MICEX-RTS for acquisition of DCC's stake.

To prepare NSD to the central depository status assignment, the members of the Board made decision to form NSD’s Users Committee (a committee of customers to use the central depository's services). NSD is to suggest the clients to nominate the candidates to the Committee through the company's web-site. The Board formed a temporary commission responsible for considering the nominated candidates' compliance with the established requirements and for compiling the ballot.

The issue of approval of the Regulations on the Committee and of formation of the Committee is to be considered by the Supervisory Board of NSD after the issuance of Russia's Federal Financial Markets Service's regulatory act establishing requirements to the central depository's users committee and a procedure of the committee's formation.

The Federal Law #161-FZ "On the National Payment System" dated 27 June 2011 came into effect on 29 September 2011 (excluding few provisions). The Law establishes the legal and organizational framework of the national payment system, a procedure of provision of payment services including transfer of funds, regulates the activities of the national payment system's entities, and also determines the requirements to payment systems' organization and functioning.

In accordance with NSD's development plans as well as with the requirements of the Federal Law “On the National Payment System”, NSD’s Supervisory Board made a number of decisions on organization of the payment system which is to be run by NSD as a payment system operator and as a payment infrastructure operator.