A scattered approach to settlement

One continent – one stock market?

Measuring up the euro-indices

If Europe remains a long way from a common trading platform, then it is even further away from a common settlement system. But according to Nick Stephenson, European equity strategist at Paribas, settlement, rather than where or how equity will be traded, is the most relevant issue from a market perspective. “Most institutions don’t really care which exchange a stock is quoted on,” he says. “Settlement is a different matter, because it affects the number of banking relationships that an investor has to maintain in Europe.”