OREANDA-NEWS. November 29, 2011. National Settlement Depository (NSD), Russia's only settlement depository servicing the full range of debt and equity securities of Russian issuers, reports that in compliance with a request by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus and an application by the Central Securities Depository of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Board of Directors of the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) has made a decision to authorize NSD as the Substitute Numbering Agency for the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Kazakhstan. This decision was supported by the National Numbering Agencies of these countries to implement ANNA's basic initiative aimed at provision of uninterrupted international assignment of the international codes.

It is worth reminding that the general meeting of ANNA members held 31 May – 1 June, 2007 in Vienna made a decision on granting NSD a right to provide the Substitute Numbering Agency's services for the CIS countries; it was approved by the Board of Directors of ANNA at the meeting conducted on 5 – 6 July, 2007. The adopted decisions were reflected in ANNA's documents. The first country where NSD began functioning as the Substitute Numbering Agency was the Republic of Uzbekistan; in this country a national numbering agency is not formed yet.

Additional information

In compliance with ANNA's regulatory documents the functions of a substitute numbering agency in a country may be implemented by a national numbering agency of some other country which has appropriate resources and the Association's official permission.

Substitute numbering agency's functions include:
Assigning of ISIN and CFI international identification codes to the financial instruments issued and registered in the territory of a country which does not have its own national numbering agency, or in the territory of a country where the national numbering agency does not have enough resources and technical possibility to implement all set of functions of the national numbering agency on a temporary or permanent basis
Updating of the national segment of the international database of ISIN and CFI codes
Regular providing of ISIN and CFI codes assigned to the country's financial instruments reports to ANNA

The substitute numbering agency's functions are temporary and supportive. Any organization in the country where another country's national numbering agency operates as the substitute numbering agency, may send an application for a right to act as the national numbering functions to ANNA's Board of Directors. If ANNA receives the country's regulator's permission for this, it shall make a positive decision, given that the applying organization is technically prepared to implement the functions listed above, including the update of the national segment in the international database of ISIN and CFI codes and distribution of the codes in the domestic market.

Moreover ANNA resolved that a substitute numbering agency shall exist not only in the country without a national numbering agency, but also in the country with functioning national numbering agency in order to provide reliable international codes assignment, if the national numbering agency faces temporary difficulties and transition periods.