October 21, 2006	Saturday	Ramazan 27, 1427

FRANKFURT, Oct 20: The European Central Bank will draw up a blueprint by February for a securities settlement platform to handle most stock and bond trades made in the euro currency.

The proposal for an ECB-run platform, two years in the making, has won broad support from euro area banks for its potential to cut through a maze of national systems, jump start the single securities market and cut the cost of investing in Europe.

But response so far has been mixed from other industry players, notably the leading securities settlement system Euroclear and from many New York and London investment banks.

In an interview with Reuters, ECB Executive Board member Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell said the goal of an ECB-led settlement system, dubbed Target 2-Securities to complement its Target 2 cash payments system, is to promote the single financial marketplace in Europe.