The automatic Clearing/Settlement System allows STICODEVAM to insure stock exchange transactions settlement what ever they are OTC or on organized market: securities settlement for simultaneous cash payment. The settlement is within a normalized place period which is T+3, T stands for transaction day.

STICODEVAM applied The Group of Thirty recommendations in order to be in accordance with the international standard level :

• Securities settlement against Cash payment,
• Securities settlement and cash payment occur the same day,
• A normalized place period for settlement ( T + 3) since the 2nd of January 2003
• Guarantee of simultaneous settlement in cash (Clearing at Tunisia Central Bank) and delivery of the securities.
  

1. Exchange transactions processing

2. Government Bonds

3. Long Term Treasury Bond (BTA)

4. Short Term Treasury Bond (BTC)

5. Auctions

6. Refinancing operations with Tunisian Central Bank

Stock Exchange transactions processing

STICODEVAM receives daily via a dedicated line the exchange transactions file from The Tunisian stock exchange (BVMT). After plausibility check, STICODEVAM imports the file data into its database to prepare the T+3 settlement (T is the transaction date).

STICODEVAM also receives the execution notices from the financial intermediaries holding securities accounts and all the movements that affect securities accounts such as :

• Transfers,
• Rights conversion to shares, ...
   

STICODEVAM also manages the Tunisian Treasury Bonds. It manages auctions' Clearing/Settlement, the grey and secondary market.

Government Bonds

Since 1997, the Tunisian Treasure started a series of reforms in order to offer the best conditions for the development of a public bonds market: This market is expected to be harmonious, liquid, attractive and sure.

The treasury target is to allow the issuer (the government) to borrow at the best conditions, and to let the standard use securities market actors have a simple and sure access to the primary and secondary market.

The public debt has been rationalized by launching two bonds categories: BTA (long term maturity bond) and BTC (short term maturity bond). BTA and BTC are issued by auction.
 

Long Term treasury bond (BTA)

BTA are the long term public debt support. Their maturity varies between 2 and 12 years.

Now you can find BTA with two years, three years, four years, five years, ten years or twelve years maturity.

BTA's rate is fixed. Its interests are annual. BTA are issued by auction. The nominal is 1000 TND .

The government indicates the amount and bonds on which he wants to auction every first Wednesday of the month.

BTA auctions occur the first Wednesday of each month. The settlement occur the next Wednesday.

Short Term Treasury Bond (BTC)

BTC (short term maturity treasury bonds) are the government treasury instruments for the maturities less than one year. Presently, BTC are issued with 13 weeks maturity, 26 weeks and 52 weeks maturity .

Auction occurs every Thursday. The settlement happens the next Tuesday.

Auction

"Ask price" auction (called in French "à la hollandaise") is the privileged manner for treasury securities issue.

As auction process is transparent and is planned in advance, it guarantees a perfect competition between subscribers.

All STICODEVAM members having an account at Tunisian Central Bank may subscribe to the auction.

Accepted subscriptions are served at Ask price (or rate) and not at mean or marginal price.

Subscribers offers must be communicated to treasury at least 10 minutes before auction session beginning. Treasury sorts them by increasing rates for BTC and decreasing price for BTA. According to the offered volumes and prices, the Treasury Chief Executive Officer decides on subscription amount for each BTA and BTC. After the counting, auction results are published on various information media such as Reuters and Bloomberg.

Results are also communicated to STICODEVAM and individually to the accepted subscribers.

The Treasury may issue non competitive offers called ONC1 and ONC2. This is an opportunity for SVT (Treasury Bonds market makers) to buy a certain amount of securities (fixed as a percentage of the total amount of the issue) after the auction session, at a mean market price. NCO are similar to auction and come always after them. Only auction subscribers are authorized to participate to their relative ONC.

Refinancing operations with Tunisian Central Bank

In order to insure efficiency and security of the operations, the Central Bank of Tunisia uses the STICODEVAM clearing/settlement system for refinancing operations with Tunisian banks.

Refinancing bank service is integrated to STICODEVAM's system (SLAB): which is a subsystem of the global system SEMS ( Stock Exchange Manager System). Thus those operations have security guarantee concerning securities settlement. BTA are accepted as a refinancing operations guarantee by Central Bank of Tunisia .

Presently, STICODEVAM processes refinancing operations with maturities between 3 and 7 days. One have to notice that restitution operation occur automatically.