The Central Depository & Settlement Corporation (CDSC), the premier provider of clearing and settlement services in the Kenya’s Capital Markets is getting ready to launch its Application Programming Interface (API) which it hopes will foster innovation and collaboration in the country’s capital markets.
In a podcast interview with The Kenyan Wallstreet, Mr. Nkoregamba Mwebesa the Chief Executive Officer of CDSC said this new system will provide its clients, partners and developers with a single, central location for all investors in the country’s stock market.
“Some of the key changes we have in the new system is that we are now SWIFT enabled. We will be delivering several API endpoints to allow end users of our agents to seamlessly and in real time connect to the CDS.” said Mr Nkoregamba.
With the new API, clients will be able to submit, update, and query new and existing information at the CDSC.
Mr Nkoregamba further noted that the CDSC now has a multi-currency and multi asset depository and settlement function, which aims to make it easier for to participate in the local capital markets.
Kenya’s Capital Markets Retail Activity
He also mentioned that Kenya has about 2.4 Million investor accounts at the CDSC. However, only 1.5% of this is active and the Corporation has embarked on a campaign to to drive the activity to about 5% in the next two to three years.
SLB Uptake
In April 2020, the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (CDSC) was admitted as the fourth firm in the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) regulatory sandbox.
CDSC has been testing a screen-based Securities Lending and Borrowing (SLB) and Mr Nkoregamba says they will be launching this product to the general public in the next few weeks.
The Central Depository & Settlement Corporation (CDSC) has also recently received a nod from the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) to engage pension schemes in its Securities Lending and Borrowing (SLB) product.
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