MINSK, 23 March (BelTA) – The Central Securities Depositary of Belarus has signed a depository agreement with the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB). The Belarusian depositary opened a depositary account for the Eurasian Development Bank, BelTA has learned.
The depository agreement will contribute to the development of the Belarusian stock market. It is also important from the point of view of the formation of the common financial market in the Eurasian Economic Union, representatives of the depositary said.
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution that facilitates integration and development of the member states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The EDB's charter capital totals $7 billion. The bank was founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 and is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Projects with an integration effect in the spheres of transport infrastructure, power engineering, chemical and mining industries, mechanical engineering represent the main share of the EDB’s portfolio.
The Central Securities Depositary of Belarus maintains over 20,000 depositary accounts of issuers and depositors, including the Belarusian Finance Ministry and the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus. The Central Securities Depositary keeps over Br70 billion (over $27 billion) worth of securities in centralized storage and carries out over 100,000 depositary transactions every year. The Central Securities Depositary of Belarus has established correspondent relations with depositaries of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan. The depositary is connected to the global provider of secure financial messaging services SWIFT. The depositary is Belarus’ national numbering agency in charge of assigning international codes to securities.