Markets and systems operating procedures committee
IF THE ANSWER IS NO, DESCRIBE THE COMPOSITION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
B.2.8. If there is an Appointments committee, indicate whether all its members are external directors:
Yes No X
X
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C.1. List any relevant transactions entailing a transfer of resources or obligations between the company or its group companies and the significant shareholders in the company:
NAME OR NAME OR RELATIONSHIP TYPE OF AMOUNT
CORPORATE CORPORATE TRANSACTION (THOUSANDS
NAME OF NAME OF OF EUROS)
SIGNIFICANT THE COMPANY
SHAREHOLDER OR GROUP COMPANY
C.2. List any relevant transactions entailing the transfer of resources or obligations between the company or its group companies and the company's managers or directors:
NAME OR NAME OR RELATIONSHIP TYPE OF AMOUNT
CORPORATE CORPORATE TRANSACTION (THOUSANDS
OF COMPANY NAME OF OF EUROS)
MANAGERS THE COMPANY
OR DIRECTORS OR GROUP COMPANY
C.3. List any relevant transaction undertaken by the company with other companies in its group that are not eliminated in the process of drawing up the consolidated financial statements and whose object and condi- tions set them apart from the company's habitual trading activities:
NAME OF GROUP COMPANY BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE TRANSACTION AMOUNT (THOUSANDS OF EUROS)
C.4. Identify, where appropriate, any conflicts of interest affecting company Directors pursuant to Article 127 of the Companies Law
In 2006 no conflicts of interest have occurred affecting company Directors. The mechanisms described in the following section were applied on a regular basis, particularly, Directors have abstained from participating in discussions and voting procedures carried out by the Board of Directors and or Board Committee dealing with issues in respect of which the Director or persons linked thereto incurred in conflict of interest.
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C.5. List the mechanisms established to detect, determine and resolve any possible conflicts of interest bet- ween the company and/or its group, and its Directors, management or significant shareholders
1.- Conflicts of interest between the company and/or its group and its Directors.
Article 21.c) of the Board of Directors' Regulations states that Directors must not participate in discussions and votes by the Board of Directors and any of its Committees that refer to matters in respect of which the Directors or their related parties have a direct conflicting interest, and they must notify the Board of any such situations.
Non-independent Directors must not participate in votes on matters in which the shareholders who proposed their appointment and the Company have a direct conflicting interest.
Article 26 of these Regulations also establishes that Directors may not use the Company's name or invoke their status as director to perform transactions on their own account or on the account of related parties. Furthermore, as mentio- ned in section B.2.3 above, any use of Company assets by Directors which is not made in return for adequate valua- ble compensation shall require prior report from the Audit Committee.
Notwithstanding, members of the Company's Board of Directors are also affected by the obligations established in this respect by the Internal Regulations of Conduct for employees described below.
2.- Conflicts of interest between the company and its group and its Directors and employees.
BME's Internal Regulations of Conduct apply to all employees and members of the Boards of Directors of the Company and its group companies. Rule V of these Regulations establishes that individuals affected must act with due impartiality and in no case place their own interests before those of the Company and their decisions shall be based on what best serves the interests and legally attributed functions of BME and its group.
Section B of Rule V of the Internal Regulations of Conduct states that BME's Directors, senior management and employees shall endeavour to avoid conflicts of interest with BME shareholders, members of or participants in the markets or systems governed or managed by companies belonging to the BME group, or with the issuers of the securities affected listed on those markets or systems or which have applied for listing.
If affected by a conflict of interest, they shall refrain from intervening in or influencing the discussion and taking of decisions concerning the persons or entities to which the direct interest in conflict refers, and shall notify whoever is responsible for decision-making accordingly. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the individuals affected may participate in the discussion and approval of any rules, instructions or decisions that will apply generally to all investors, market members or companies with securities admitted to trading.
All individuals affected by the Internal Regulations of Conduct, employees and members of the Board of Directors must notify the Standards of Conduct Unit of any possible conflicts of interest, which may affect them or related par- ties, as stipulated by the same Internal Regulations of Conduct.
The existence of any conflict of interest must be notified within five days of the moment its becomes known and notifi- cation must be given before any decision or measure is taken which may be affected by the existence of this conflict of interests. Individuals affected must keep the information they supply up to date, giving notice of the termination of or any change in the situation of conflict and the emergence of new situations of this type.
Section G of Rule V of the Internal Regulation of Conducts governs the mechanism any affected individuals may use to obtain advice.
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D.1. Give a general description of risk policy in the company and/or its group, detailing and evaluating the risks hedged by the system, as well as an explanation of how far these systems match the profile of each type of risk
BME is the owner of companies operating in securities registration, clearing and settlement systems and secondary markets in Spain, responsible for the unity of action, decision and strategic co-ordination of the afore-mentioned com- panies. The Company is run via seven business units, which do not correspond exactly with the legal entities making up the BME group:
● Equities: Trading of securities through the electronic trading platform (Sistema de Interconexión Bursátil) or on the
stock-exchange floor and all corresponding post-trade activities;
● Derivatives: Trading, counterparty management and settlement of derivatives products; ● Fixed income: Trading of private fixed income and public debt securities;
● Settlement: Registration, clearing and settlement of equity, private fixed income and public debt trades;
● Dissemination of information: Dissemination of information as a primary source and commercial provider services; ● Listing: Listing and maintenance services for issuers on the equities and private fixed income markets; and, ● IT and Consulting: Production and sale of software, global access, advisory and training services.
As a result of this, the management of risks deriving from BME's various activities is carried out on two fronts: Firstly, each business unit has its own systems in place for identifying, measuring, evaluating and managing the risk it incurs. Also, from a corporate management standpoint the Company's global position is monitored and decisions are taken from a consolidated angle. Specifically, the Internal Audit Department keeps a detailed Global Risk Map for the Company, which it submits to BME's Audit Committee for its knowledge and review. In order to fully monitor the risks affecting the group detailed in the Global Risk Map, in 2005 BME's Audit Committee created an internal working group, currently still running, comprised of experienced personnel with knowledge of the Company's various business, inclu- ding a legal advisor.
BME is present throughout the whole value chain in the management of several financial markets, exposing it to a variety of risks:
● Operating risks: The risk of direct or indirect losses caused by inadequacies or faults committed by procedures, per-
sonnel or internal systems or due to external events. Operating risks can be classified according to whether they affect the BME group as a whole or whether they apply exclusively to one of its business areas.
Operating risks affecting all BME business groups include:
● Risk of fraud: The risk of action being committed to bypass the law, causing damage to third parties or to the group
itself.
● IT risk: The risk of faults occurring in the IT and electronic systems used by the group, either internally or affecting the
market. Such faults could be caused by errors in communications, or hardware or software malfunctions. Risks also include alterations and violations of the Company's security systems. Given the nature of its operations, this is consi- dered one of the main risks for the BME group.
● Risk of administrative errors: These include errors resulting from miscalculations, deficient execution procedures,
manual errors or the failure to keep data bases up to date. They also include errors in invoicing or following up pay- ments.
Operating risks relating to specific business units:
● Settlement Unit. The objective of both IBERCLEAR (the business unit responsible for the registration, clearing and
settlement of equity and fixed income securities), and MEFF (the unit responsible for the clearing and settlement of trades made on financial derivatives) is to adhere to the best practice recommendations for securities settlement systems put forward by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
● Depository risk. As a depository entity for equity securities, IBERCLEAR should be able to guarantee the protec-
tion of its customers' securities. Therefore, accounting practices and depository procedures are used which fully protect the customers' securities.
● Reliability in clearing and settlement activities. This may be affected by the risk that the confirmation of trades fails
to take place in D+0 and never later than D+1 and that the settlement confirmation takes place never later than D+3.
● Information Unit. Risks deriving from errors in the collection and dissemination of market information. Such errors may
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occur if there have been previous IT glitches in communication or production.
● Market risks: These are the current or potential risk posed by unfavourable movements in interest rates or changes in
prices or share prices, or in variations in trading volumes.
● Liquidity or solvency risk: The risk that a group company is unable to meet its payments commitments.
● Credit or counterparty risk: The risk of a company debtor failing to meet its payment commitments or a deterioration
of its credit rating. We identify two main risks affecting the BME group:
Risks affecting the securities settlement system. Risks affecting the settlement guarantee system in the event of failure to meet the cash payments or the delivery of securities by the participating entity buying or selling the securities or financial derivatives. Key risks include:
● MEFF's exposure to this risk as central counterparty.
● Risk relating to the securities lending system. In the event of an unusually large short-sell on a limited number of
securities, IBERCLEAR may not have sufficient securities on loan to cover the short-sell.
● Risk relating to the securities buy-back system. If insufficient securities are on loan, a buy-back plan shall be imple-
mented. If the number of securities required to be purchased is excessive, it will be impossible to buy back shares without this affecting the share price.
Risk deriving from non-payment of invoices or fees.
● Risks relating to regulatory changes, the Company's reputation, sector competency, relations with shareholders, the
political, economic, legal and tax environment, and significant regulatory changes.
D.2. Indicate the control systems established to assess, mitigate and reduce the main risks affecting the company and its group
The BME group has adopted a series of measures to mitigate and reduce the risks described above. The key measu- res adopted for each type of risk are the following:
● Operating risks: In order to reduce operating risk the group has adopted internal control measures and specific con-
tingency plans for each of its business units, in which priority is given to the implementation of automatic procedures over manual procedures and procedures are supervised and revised by independent departments.
With regard to IT risk, given the critical role played by IT security in group operations, a large number of ad hoc mea- sures have been established. The primary aim of these measures is risk prevention, i.e. to prevent the afore-mentio- ned risk from materialising and minimising its impact in the event that it does materialise. Now that these measures have been introduced, there is currently a very low level of IT risk and the group strives constantly to meet the most demanding standards and put the sector's best practices into operation. Therefore, measures are being adopted to involve the company's entire staff in IT risk prevention, and a section called "information security" has been added on the corporate intranet, incorporating the group's General Security management policy.
Pursuant to ISO/IEC 27001, BME has created a Security Committee made up of senior managers from the following departments: Human Resources, Finance, Technology, Legal, Internal Auditing and the head of the security team. The Committee has set up a team to monitor information security and this team is responsible for implementing and supervising the policies put forward by the Security committee.
Directive 2004/39/CE governing Markets in Financial Instruments (MIFID). which is currently being developed. and the new Basel II legislation establish contingency solutions to ensure the continuous operation of the business. To do this, the BME group has created an immediate response service for the Spanish securities market. This platform allows market members to continue with their normal operations in the event of an emergency.
To detect the vulnerability of the system from the outside and therefore avoid restricted information being obtained, an external technological audit company has been set up to detect at system level the vulnerability of all machines which are visible from the internet.
To reduce the risk of fraud, BME's Board of Directors drew up the Company's Internal Regulations of Conduct. This code applies to all members of the Boards of Directors and employees of all group companies, and establishes the duties they are liable to perform in the area of confidentiality and integrity. The Company has also taken out a speci- fic insurance policy to provide coverage in the case of claims in this area.
Additionally, the integration of financial and accounting information systems, with the application of common criteria and defined operating procedures, using a common ERP software platform for the whole group, ensures the integrity, reliability and traceability of the information sent to supervisory bodies, investors and market analysts.
With regard to operating risks affecting depository procedures, balances are controlled through security codes and participating entities throughout the whole settlement process and conciliation procedures established with partici- pants with regard to the balances registered in their respective accounts and those of third parties. In addition to the information on balances mentioned above, IBERCLEAR keeps a file containing the register references for the balan- ces of each security held by the participating entity (on their own account or for third parties), allowing each transac- tion to be individually identified. Furthermore, each participating entity is obliged to keep a register showing the same details, assigning to each owner the corresponding securities balances and register references.
With regard to the reliability of cleearing and settlement operations, the sources of risk deriving from the clearing and set- tlement process are identified and minimised via the implementation of the appropriate systems, controls and procedu- res. The systems are reliable and secure, and have sufficient capacity to process a large volume of trades. Contingency plans have been established along with back-up systems to recover trades and finalise the settlement process.
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- Risks incurred by MEFF (derivative business unit) deriving from the counterparty management of derivative pro- ducts, options and futures.
At IBERCLEAR, with the objective of ensuring the correct settlement of all trades effected on the stock market, the "delivery vs. payment principle" is used. In other words, IBERCLEAR ensures that the participant delivers the corres- ponding securities or cash at settlement prior to payment being made.
To ensure correct registration in the book entry register and to avoid dual entries or erroneous breakdowns, IBER- CLEAR has established controls over the balances via security codes and participating entities throughout the set- tlement process.
To eliminate the risk of settlement not being carried out, the following mechanisms have been designed to ensure the correct working of the system:
- IBERCLEAR keeps four credit lines opened whose amounts are automatically put at the disposal of the Bank of Spain in the event of insufficient funds (article 60.3 of Royal Decree 116/98, governing book entries).
- Deposits and guarantees of each participating entity are used first and foremost to cover the obligations that the participant takes out with the settlement system; and secondly, if this is not sufficient, the amount acts as guaran- tee for the rest of the participants on a pro-rata basis in accordance with the sums contributed by each one (arti- cle 63 of Royal Decree 116/98, governing book entries).
- On the other hand, the centralised securities lending facility allows participants subscribing securities loan agre- ements with IBERCLEAR to put these at the disposal of the latter in the event that securities are not delivered by another participant (article 57 of Royal Decree 116/98, governing book entries).
- If at D+4 the seller has not confirmed the securities sold, IBERCLEAR shall buy back these securities on the market, with all costs deriving from this operation borne by the seller.
IBERCLEAR's public debt and fixed income trades do not entail any risk whatsoever, as transfer operations invol- ving delivery on payment are bilateral and if either of the two parties does not fulfil the conditions of contract there is no settlement.
MEFF is a central counterparty, and therefore, in the event that settlement does not occur, the positions held by the member failing to meet its obligations are closed. If these are negative, they shall be covered using the guarantees the member in breach of contract has delivered to MEFF. If these guarantees are not sufficient, the settlement must be covered using cash resources available to MEFF, financed with its own equity or that of the BME group or by means of external financial facilities for which it will have to bear the cost. To calculate guarantees correctly, in case the risk of the position is exceeded, extraordinary amounts are required at real time.
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D.3. If any of the risks facing the group and/or its companies have materialised, indicate the circumstances and