International depository Euroclear is holding merger talks with UK settlement agency, Crest, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The FT report says discussions on a possible merger and other forms of co-operation are part of a series Euroclear is holding with other clearing and settlement agencies in its drive to consolidate its position in Europe. Euroclear is also understood to be talking to Interbolsa, the Portuguse settlement system.
A Euroclear official told the paper: "Now that Clearstream is basically off the agenda, we are clearly interested in keeping the consolidation process going. We are in talks with a number of central securities depositories but we also want to entice clients to do more business with us."
An announcement on the possible merger is not expected to be imminent.