On 15 July 2014 the Austrian Central Securities Depository informed the Austrian Market of the introduction of Record Date and further international market standards in Austria. This step was necessary in order to be compliant with the European Market Standards for Corporate Actions Processing (MSCA final endorsed version 2012) and is a requirement for the successful implementation of T2S (Target 2 Securities) in Austria in the second half of 2016.
Record Date
The Record Date concept will be implemented for Distributions (coupon payments and dividends) and for Mandatory Reorganisations (corporate actions) as of 16 November 2015.
CSD.Austria will be determining the respective entitlements at close of business on the Record Date.
Mandatory Reorganisations - New ISIN
As per MSCA, it is a requirement for Mandatory Reorganisations (e.g. share splits) that a new ISIN has to be used. The implementation of this Market Standard will also take place on 16 November 2015.
Information between the Issuer and the Issuer CSD
Another requirement to be compliant with MSCA relates to the communication between the Issuer and the Issuer CSD, however the details are not yet available. CSD.Austria will publish them after the finalisation of the new communication channel.
UniCredit GSS Austria takes an active role in the market user group and will be closely monitoring any upcoming changes. We will continue to keep our clients updated of any further details as soon as such become available.
Impact on investors: The Austrian market will convert from ex date to record date driven for distributions and mandatory reorganisations from 16 November 2015.