CENTRAL DEPOSITORY AGENCY STARTS OPERATING

ZAGREB, July 19 (Hina) - The signing of membership contracts by the Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva and the Rijeka and Varazdinska Banks on Monday marked the beginning of operation of the Central Depository Agency (SDA). The agency began trial work last month. All buying and selling operations on the stock exchange will be registered as electronic entries and be settled on one place, in the agency's depository. The agency will also provide services regarding the transfer of property and payment collection in buying and selling operations. These operations are the basic precondition for a capital market to function and the opening of the Central Depository Agency marks the last step towards the organised capital market in Croatia. The agency will also ensure more transparent data on joint stock companies for shareholders and investors and increase the speed of deals, SDA management president Vesna Zivkovic said. The agency plans to include as many companies as possible into its central depository, as well as to integrate into the privatisation process, the system of large payments and the pension reform, she added. The agency was founded as a joint stock company in April 1997 on the basis of the Law on Equity Issuing and Operations. Today's signing ceremony was also attended by Economy Minister Nenad Porges. (hina) rml