FRANKFURT, March 8: The European Central Bank will delay a final decision on a radical overhaul of securities settlement in Europe until next year, after eurozone finance ministers and some market players expressed doubts.

The ECB said on Thursday it had decided to consult more on the practical details of the Target 2 Securities (T2S) project, where the central bank would take over settling shares and bonds traded in euros from the private sector.

“It is not the final decision,” ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet told a news conference at the bank’s Frankfurt headquarters. “We will incorporate very clearly all the remarks which will be made before we take our decision to launch, which will be taken at the beginning of next year.”—Reuters