For a fee, the Bond Centre provides a service which enables banks to present their customers’ securities and coupons for payment without first grouping them together by ISIN code or denomination.
The National Bank is responsible for redeeming government debt securities and coupons. Under the traditional system of processing, every bank has to group the securities together by value, amount and due date before presenting them to the National Bank for encashment.
The time limitation rule (pdf - 19k)
The Bond Centre offers a complementary service, which has the advantage that financial institutions no longer need to group their securities centrally, but can instead submit them for encashment direct from the agency concerned. Securities which are not yet due can also be submitted at any time during the last 40 calendar days before maturity.
The fact that banks no longer have to centralise the securities offers them substantial logistical savings and reduces the loss of value days. On the other hand, they have to pay a fee for this additional service.
Some banks opt to notify the content of their consignments electronically, which makes it easier to monitor and process the data and further reduces the cost.
For more information: 02 221 52 30 - Marc Lejoly, e-mail: securities@nbb.be