Strate (CSD)

{{short description|South African financial infrastructure}} {{Notability|date=August 2025}} '''Strate''' (for '''S'''hare '''Tra'''nsactions '''T'''otally '''E'''lectronic Limited) is the main central securities depository (CSD) in South Africa.<ref name=about>{{cite web |website=Strate |url=https://www.strate.co.za/about-us/ |access-date={{date|2025-3-9}} |title=Who We Are}}</ref>

==Overview==

In 1989, the South African Reserve Bank partnered with the country's major banks to create UNEXCor, an electronic settlement system for the South African bond market. Two years later, Central Depository Limited (CD Ltd) was established to provide electronic settlement and depository services. In May 1994, UNEXCor became a clearing house for the bond market.<ref name=about/>

The initiative to create Strate started in 1996 and led to its incorporation in November 1998. On {{date|1999-9-10}}, a shareholders' was made between Absa Bank, Citibank, First National Bank, JSE Limited, Mercantile Bank, Nedbank and Standard Bank to define the objectives assigned to Strate. UNEXCor was subsequently merged into Strate in 2003.<ref name=about/> Subsequently, Strate has been owned by the JSE (44.55 percent), Nedbank and Standard Bank (15 percent each), Absa and FirstRand Bank (12.68 percent each), and Citibank (0.10 percent).<ref>{{cite web |website=Financial Markets Journal |url=https://financialmarketsjournal.co.za/oldsite/7thedition/printedarticles/strate.htm |access-date={{date|2025-3-9}} |title=Strate Ltd, South Africa}}</ref>

Strate handles the settlement of a number of securities, including equities and bonds for the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), as well as a range of derivative products such as warrants, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), retail notes and tracker funds. It has now added the settlement of money market securities to its portfolio of services. It provides services to issuers for their investors in terms of the Companies Act and Securities Services Act (SSA) of 2004.n In 2013, Strate announced a partnership with Euroclear.<ref>{{cite web |website=FinTech Futures |date={{date|2013-9-10}} |url=https://www.fintechfutures.com/venture-capital-funding/euroclear-and-south-africa-s-csd-plot-fund-platform |title=Euroclear and South Africa's CSD plot fund platform}}</ref>

Strate is a member of both the Africa & Middle East Depositories Association (AMEDA)<ref>{{cite web |website=AMEDA |url=https://www.ameda.org.eg/members/ |access-date={{date|2025-3-9}} |title=Members |date=13 March 2023 }}</ref> and the Americas Central Securities Depositories Association (ACSDA).<ref>{{cite web |website=ACSDA |url=https://www.acsda.org/association/members |access-date={{date|2025-3-7}} |title=Our Members}}</ref>

==See also== * Financial market infrastructure

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Central securities depositories