Information on the Measures to Prevent the Spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) III

26/03/2020


Information for our Clients and Partners

In reference to the measures taken in the emergency declared by Hungarian Government, KELER Group hereby wishes to inform you on its current actions taken in accordance with its Action Plan to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and thus promote the continuous, safe and legitimate operation of KELER Group.

Safety of KELER Group staff

In our previous announcements on our website, we have already informed you about our actions to protect the health and safety of our staff and to promote uninterrupted operation. Nevertheless, we think you should also know about the events and decisions of the past week.

We have significantly reduced the number of active staff at the headquarters of KELER Group. From now on, the majority of our employees will work from home. Most of our services will be available to our Customers in the usual quality without interruption.

KELER Service Development Programme (KSZP)

The KSZP workflows have been redirected to electronic communication channels. Obviously, this process imposed additional tasks on programme management, but our aim remains the same: we wish to carry out our jobs without alterations and within the set deadlines. The schedule of the Programme and performing all the tasks within the set deadlines have not been jeopardized so far and the planned and previously communicated market test and the launch date remain unchanged. However, we wish to note that any escalation of the epidemic situation may result in modifications to the above plans.

Regulation 6-11 on the Management of Exceptional Situations

Responding to the measures taken in the emergency declared by Hungarian Government, KELER Group amended its Regulation 6-11 on the Management of Exceptional Situations, with effect from 24 March 2020. To prevent the spread of the virus and diminish physical contact, Section 8 of the Regulation referred above puts in place the following restrictions.

  • KELER Group stops operating personal client service and reception. At the same time, the  following services shall also be suspended:

    • personal access to regulations at our Headquarters,

    • organisation of Demat events with the personal participation of Issuers,

    • personal access to the List of Shareholders,

    • payments,

    • services related to the organisation of the General Assembly.

  • Regrading the restrictions on the receipt and delivery of printed items, the following changes shall apply:

    • The authorised signatures on outbound notifications, certificates, statements, letters and contracts shall be given electronically. Where necessary, these shall be provided in ’.es3’-format and also sent electronically whenever possible;

    • In the case of delivering mail items by regular post, delayed administration deadlines should be anticipated.*

(*Should the Hungarian Government put in force health protection measures that significantly hinder the delivery of mail items by regular post or by physical delivery (courier), KELER Group will not attempt any more to have physical items delivered.)

  • Incoming mails shall be essentially received electronically.

  • In the case of mails received by not-electrical means, delayed administration deadlines should be anticipated. At the moment, recipients may take such items between 9AM and 15PM at the Reception Desk of KELER Group.

Measures related to the management of Demat events

Demat events that may be ordered via the eDEMAT system shall be exclusively managed by KELER through the eDEMAT online application.

In the transitional period, Demat events that may not be managed via the eDEMAT system (e.g. partial deletion) shall be managed by KELER without the personal presence of Issuers. In such cases, the Demat event shall be managed as agreed by Issuer following consultation via e-mail. Issuer shall be informed via e-mail about the successful status of the event.

KELER introduces special rules for the management of Demat events

The reception process of printed documents will take 7 to 14 business days. The processing and ranking (normal/priority) of Demat events may only start afterwards.

Deviations from the normal formatting criteria of Issuer Orders shall be as follows:

  • Issuer Orders shall be accepted and processed when sent as a duly signed '.pdf' (scanned) document to  if Issuer's representatives declare that the documents transmitted electronically are identical to the authentic printed documents and also undertake to deliver the original documents to KELER by post or personal delivery within 7 working days, addressed to TEKO, in the case of Issuers complying with the following criteria:

    • Issuer is considered as Participant according to Point j) of Paragraph (1) of §2 of Act XXIII of 2003 on the Finality of Settlement in Payment and Securities Settlement Systems known as Tvt;

    • Issuer is considered as Manager of Investment Fund according to Point 19 of Paragraph (1) of §4 of Act XVI of 2014 on Collective Investment Trusts and Their Managers and on the Amendment of Financial Regulations known as Kbftv. or as Manager of Venture Capital Fund according to Point 60 of the same and

    • the securities are issued by Issuer in the framework of a securities auction conducted through BSE's trading.

  • Issuers not covered above should specify the Value Date of the Demat Event or the Replacement Date in the Issuer's Order to be submitted in a way that takes into account the time required for signature, delivery time and the time needed to process the modified printed KELER documents. If the Issuer notices, while specifying the planned Value Date that the selected value date would exceed the Maximum Value Date defined by KELER, Issuer should apply at KELER for the modification of the Maximum Value Date on the Message Board of the e-DEMAT system before finalizing the Document.

Specific rules of blocking and unblocking securities

According to the Rules of Procedure so far, KELER only blocked securities when provided by a printed voucher and a printed Letter of Authorization by the Subaccount Holder. However, in view of the current extraordinary situation and in order to ensure the sustainability of the service, KELER shall manage the said process as described below until revocation.

Joint blocking may still be initiated by filling in the dedicated KELER form. The form in ’.pdf’ format, together with the Letter of Authorization by Subaccount Holder in ’.pdf’ format  shall be encapsulated  in an electronic file with ’.es3’ extension and, including an authorised electronic signature, sent to .

The Letter of Authorization by Client shall include the e-mail address to which KELER is to send the Custody Certificate.

Upon receiving the Application and the Letter of Authorization, KELER performs the joint blocking and issues an electronically signed Custody Certificate, sent as a reply to the Application and also to the e-mail address of Subaccount Holder.

In the case of joint blocking, when releasing the blocking before the expiry date, KELER shall act according to the usual Rules of Procedure i.e. blocking shall be performed upon the submission of the Application for Release and the original printed copy of the Custody Certificate. As joint blockings may not be released before the expiry date by means of electric Custody Certificates (there is no document that could be sent back to KELER), KELER performs electronic joint blocking only for maximum 30 days, even if the Application specifies a longer period. When Account Holder applies for joint blocking with an expiry exceeding 30 days, the Application shall be submitted again after 30 days. In a crisis situation, the Application shall be submitted electronically, whereas under normal operating conditions, in two printed copies.

In the case of unilateral or beneficiary’s blocking where

  1. a Custody Certificate is issued at blocking or

  2. the blocking is released by returning the printed Custody Certificates issued earlier

Account Holder (or, in the case of beneficiary’s blocking Beneficiary) may apply for release by means of sending a Release Application including an authorised electronic signature to  also attaching a Declaration obliging himself to return the two original printed copies of the Custody Certificate to KELER once the crisis situation is over. Representatives under their full responsibility, furthermore declare that electronically submitted documents are identical to the printed copies and undertake to submit electronically sent documents to KELER Group in 2 original printed copies by post within 7 working days of sending of the electronic documents, once the crisis is over.

We consider it important to inform our clients that the actions we are taking now are being implemented in accordance with the national measures taken so far. These are, however, kept under review, continuously considering the aspects of the pandemic threat and the operation of KELER Group.

We are confident that the measures taken by us will contribute to successfully defeat the coronavirus and together we can overcome this extraordinary situation as soon as possible.

Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at .

Thank you very much for your cooperation and patience.

Best regards

KELER Group