Clearing and Settlement

Bond dealings settle (payment in full) on a t+3 basis (i.e. three business days after the trade date) but deferred settlement can be arranged on request.

Settlement of Irish government bonds on Euroclear

On Monday, December 4, 2000, the settlement of Irish government bonds was transferred from the domestic settlement system, the Central Bank of Ireland Securities Settlements Office (CBISSO), to the Euroclear Operations Centre in Brussels. Ireland is the first European country to transfer the settlement of government bonds from its Central Bank to an international securities depository.

The benefits of the transfer are:

• Increased liquidity of Irish government bonds in the international capital markets, as a result of improved access to a broader range of investors
  
  
• A simplified and cost-effective settlement infrastructure, in which safekeeping and settlement of domestic and cross-border transactions are centralised within the same entity
  
  
• Optimised settlement efficiency, due to the integration of the settlement activity into an international real-time settlement environment
  
  
• Access to a wide range of markets for the former CBISSO members, through the Euroclear System
  
  
• The Central Bank of Ireland remains as the registrar

After transfer as of December 4, 2000, Euroclear Participants must use:

• Internal instructions, if their counterparty is another Euroclear Participant, including former CBISSO members
  
  
• Bridge instructions, if their counterparty is a Clearstream Banking member, or
  
  
• External instructions, free of payment only, if their counterparty is a retail investor maintaining an account on the non-Euroclear Nominees part of the Central Bank of Ireland register