The Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA) says Australia will move to T+2 settlement for fixed income products on March 7 2016.

The change will reduce counterparty and systemic risk and bring Australia in line with key trading partner economies, it adds.

Michael Go, head of markets, says the change will be positive for the Australian markets, harmonising practice with important offshore markets, as well as complementing the ASX’s move to T+2 settlement for cash equities and New Zealand’s move to T+2 for cash equities and fixed income.

Only secondary market products are included in this change and that origination settlement cycles and conventions remain the same. Secondary market products include Commonwealth treasury bonds and semi-government bonds which are not near maturing, supernational, corporate bonds and commonwealth inflation bonds. 

Russia's National Settlement Depository (NSD), the country’s central securities depository, says it has implemented back-to-back settlements technology for off-exchange DVP (delivery versus payment) transactions. Trading bank accounts and transactions may be in Russian rubles, US dollars, euro, or yuan.

Clearstream reports that the overall value of assets under custody held on behalf of customers registered an increase of 8 percent to EUR 13.2 trillion (compared to EUR 12.2 trillion in August 2014). 

Euroclear Bank has opened an account with Hong Kong’s Central Securities Depositary, the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU).

Eurex Clearing reports that it has admitted another major participant to EurexOTC Clear – the German Bund, represented by the Bundesrepublik Deutschland – Finanzagentur GmbH (the Federal Republic of Germany – Finance Agency).

Italy's Monte Titoli and its clients have successfully completed the migration to the European Central Bank’s Target2-Securities (T2S) platform, postponed to August 31 from June 22 when the first wave of implementation began, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) reports.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Africa's largest exchange, says it has officially launched JSE Eris Interest Rate Swap (IRS) Futures, based on the Johannesburg Interbank Agreed Rate (JIBAR) and denominated in South African Rand (ZAR).