Bank of Lithuania
2011-09-15

To ensure more efficient development of the securities safekeeping and settlement market the Board of the Bank of Lithuania decided to sell a block of shares of the AB Lietuvos Vertybinių Popierių Depozitoriumo (Lithuania’s Central Securities Depository), which makes up 60% of the authorised capital.

“The most important joint projects between the Bank of Lithuania and depository, which are directly related with the functions of the Bank of Lithuania, have been already implemented, which means that there is no need for the Bank to further participate in the depository management,” Darius Petrauskas, vice chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania said.

In his opinion the ongoing consolidation of the securities market infrastructure in Europe is the right moment for offering a new investor a possibility to get Lithuania’s central securities depository involved in the process.

“This is a possibility to extend the range of services for domestic and external investors and improve accessibility and attractiveness of the country’s capital market, as well as boost the depository’s competitiveness by delivering high quality services at the lowest cost,” Petrauskas said.

The shares of the depository will be sold in a public tender. The participant offering the highest bid will become the winner of the public tender.  A decision was taken to not announce in public the lowest selling price for the shares to avoid any influence on the tender results.

Licensed regulated market operators, central depositories, and other specialised managers of the securities settlement and safekeeping infrastructure from the European Union and European Economic Area member states will be allowed to participate in the tender. A strategic investor will be sold the entire 60 per cent share portfolio under the control of the Bank of Lithuania.  

The tender conditions will be published on the Bank of Lithuania’s website on 16 September. The final date for submitting offers is 27 October 2011 at 2:00 pm. The tender is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.