A crucial component of the European Central Bank-backed Target2-Securities IT project, which aims to host most bond and equity settlements in Europe by 2015, is in jeopardy.

One of T2S's goals is to deliver a €0.15 settlement fee for cross-border securities trades in Europe. However, following the withdrawal this year of support by the central banks of Switzerland and the UK, and the UK's central securities depository EUI, the fee will be decided by the participation of the Swiss, Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic CSDs.