The NZCSD Flyer

No 91 - March 2003

Introduction

The NZCSD Flyer provides our customers with a series of brief notes about current matters of interest to both Registry customers and Austraclear Members.

Each item usually includes a reference to the person or section to whom further enquiries should be directed. However, please also feel free to contact Peter Katz (00 644) 471 3711, email katzp@rbnz.govt.nz, on any Austraclear issue or Barry Norton (00 644) 471 3682, email nortonb@rbnz.govt.nz on Registry business.

New Software Enhancements

At the November 2002 User Group meeting we advised members of two new software developments that would be available early this year. One is the User Profile Report, the other a "tilde delimited file" of members portfolio positions. These enhancements were made available 31 March 2003.

User Profile Report - Frequently members' auditors request a list of user logons and functionality from the Reserve Bank. To retrieve this in the past we laboriously screen printed each logon and access. The software enhancement allows us to generate a report for each member mnemonic that lists logons and/or branch relationships. Each individual logon and associated functionality is then listed. This report will be provided on request for $40 plus GST.

Member Portfolio Positions - Currently members have the ability to capture their portfolios as a file. However the layout of the data captured requires a lot of tidy up work to format the information. A "tilde delimited file' has been developed that gives members the ability to capture the data and format as required. Once in production this file will be available to all members through the "SPRINT" function.

Austraclear System: Hours of Availability of Sub-Committee Recommendations

On 6 December 2002 we sent out a document signalling that the arrival of CLS Bank may have a marked impact on the hours that the Austraclear system is available. The banking industry is undertaking preparatory work for the introduction of the NZD to CLS Bank, hopefully some time late in 2004.

A representative sub-committee of members from banks, custodians and brokers was formed in December 2002 to identify and discuss issues relating to the hours of operation for Austraclear in a CLS environment. (Details were provided in the last Flyer.) The committee has met twice. The list of the issues identified by the committee at the first meeting was circulated to all Austraclear members for comment. The key issues were: staffing extended hours, the impact of limiting settlement in equities to 4.45pm on both the domestic market and for overseas investors, NZSE and registries support extending the equities market beyond 4.45pm, the viability of small participants to participate given the additional operating costs.

A subsequent meeting with the committee was held on 11 March 2003 to consider members' comments. In brief the committee's preference is that until a proven demand for settlement of CLS-related transactions is established, Austraclear hours of operation should remain unchanged. The Bank accepted this position but noted the following caveats that were also acknowledged at the meeting:
1. This decision would be reviewed at short notice if new information comes to hand.
2. The `no change' stance would have adverse impacts on investment in New Zealand or have no adverse liquidity impacts.
3. The design of the Austraclear system would be flexible enough to allow changes to operating hours to be effected easily.
4. In particular, a review would be undertaken in the interests of competitive neutrality, should one or more non-bank members request participation in the settlement window between the 4.45pm close and after CLS - close. (Under the current hours of operation banks are able to conduct both fixed interest and cash transactions from 8.00pm until 8.40am the next business day.)

Minutes of the 11 March committee meeting have been sent to all members.

Copies of minutes and other correspondence relating to the hours of operation are available on our website,
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/payment/austraclear/0128130.html

New BCP Site

We have transferred our BCP site equipment to Logical Network Limited's (Logical) new premises in Willis Street. The space provided is suitable for conducting full operations (Austraclear, ESAS and technical support) over a period of time in the event that the RBNZ building is inaccessible. Our back-up site for computer systems for both Austraclear and ESAS remains in Auckland. Our live BCP site test on 25 March 2003 was successful and we now plan to conduct quarterly tests.
If you have any queries, please contact Peter Katz on 04 471 3711, katzp@rbnz.govt.nz or Adrienne Barlow on 04 471 3629, barlowa@rbnz.govt.nz.

Austraclear Trans-Tasman Network

The trans-tasman network was upgraded in year 2000 to a high capacity fault tolerant network in order to support the anticipated operation of the Austraclear/ESAS systems from Australia. The systems have remained supported from New Zealand and accordingly we have wound back some of the trans-tasman line capacity. Nevertheless the trans-tasman line remains more fault tolerant than prior to year 2000. Therefore we do not expect Australian members to be affected by this change which preserves network integrity through multiple points of entry to Australia.

If you have any queries, please contact Peter Katz on 04 471 3711 or katzp@rbnz.govt.nz.

Transfer Forms

We would like to remind some members that registries reserve the right to not process transfer forms that are incomplete or incorrectly completed according to their requirements. NZCSD receives transfer forms and on-sends these direct to the respective registry for processing. If transfer forms are rejected by a registry this can cause substantial timing delay and rework for all parties concerned. We appreciate that most forms are completed accurately.

If you have any questions relating to the current completion of transfer forms please contact our Help Desk (04) 471 3897 or the registry concerned direct.

Austraclear User Group Meeting - 16 May 2003

The next Austraclear user group meeting is to be held in conjunction with the New Zealand Financial Markets Operations Association's [FMOA] meeting on Friday 26 May 2003. The meeting will be held on level 3, BNZ Tower, 125 Queen Street, Auckland. The FMOA registration will start their day at 10.30am. The user group meeting will start at 1.30pm and end at 3.15pm. Following a short break for afternoon tea, the FMOA meeting will continue and finish around 5.00pm.

Both users of the Austraclear system and members of the NZFMOA are invited to drinks at the same venue from 5.15pm to 7.30pm.

An agenda for the user group meeting is attached. We look forward to seeing those of you who can attend the meeting and/or the evening drinks. If there are any particular issues you would like to see on the agenda please contact Peter Katz on (04) 471 3711.

TeNZ Security

We would like to remind members that if they hold TeNZ securities over books close then an administration fee is charged by both the registry and ourselves. This fee reflects the work entailed in administering both associated corporate actions and payments due. Members should be aware that for a small TeNZ holding over books close the administration fees may exceed the dividend.

If you have any queries relating to this decision please contact Adrienne Barlow (04) 471 3629.

Austraclear New Zealand Member List

The list of `Austraclear System Members and Mnemonics' has been updated and posted on our website http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/payment/austraclear/0107384.html. If you are unable to access our website please fax Jo Woodman-Smith (04-471 3834) with a request to have a hard copy mailed to you quarterly.

Changes in Membership

New members/Members branches

Welcome to the new Austraclear member

Mnemonic	Name	Membership
JBWH20	JB Were Futures Pty Ltd	Associate
FNZS40 - 43	First NZ Capital Securities	Full (Name change only)

Index of Austraclear and NZCSD Information and Documents available on the Internet

Listed below are the Austraclear and NZCSD documents which are available for download from our internet page http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/payment/Austraclear/index.html

Overview of Austraclear (also available in PDF 120KB)
Austraclear New Zealand members
Independent auditor's report to the System Operator of Austraclear New Zealand for quarter ending 31 December 2002 17 January 2003 (PDF 946KB)
Financial Services Group Customer Service Contacts 25 February 2003
New support provider for Austraclear/ESAS 8 May 2002
Austraclear Customer Survey March 2002
Austraclear : Host-To-Host Lite (HTH*Lite) guide and application pack February 2002 (PDF 271KB)
Austraclear New Zealand operating guidelines 4 September 2001 (PDF 402KB)
Austraclear New Zealand system rules 9 October 2000 (PDF 115KB)
Austraclear New Zealand system membership application pack (PDF 242KB)
Austraclear functions: quick reference guide - Screen Refresh and Toggle
Austraclear New Zealand charges Effective from 2 July 2001
News release : New Zealand's inter-bank settlement system to remain in New Zealand for the time being 18 April 2001
Austraclear system: Hours of availability post CLS 6 December 2002
Austraclear Usergroup Hours of Operation 7 February 2003
Draft Minutes of the Austraclear User Group Hours of Operation Sub-Committee 23 January 2003

Association of Global Custodians Questionnaire (2002) (PDF 203KB)

The NZCSD Flyer provides our customers with a series of brief notes about current matters of interest to both Registry customers and Austraclear members.

Austraclear User Group Meeting
Austraclear User Group Meeting presentation 15 November 2002 (PDF 1028KB)
Summary of points and issues raised at User Group Meeting 15 November 2002
Draft Agenda for Austraclear User Group Meeting 16 May 2003

If you have any suggestions for additional information we could add to this site please email katzp@rbnz.govt.nz.