The Bank of England task force on share settlement duly proposed a move from the two- or three-week account to a 10-day rolling share settlement system by July 1 next year, and says the cycle should be shortened to five days by the beginning of 1995; it also proposes to implement a system called Crest which promises to offer settlement within three days; the move to five days in 1995 for most of the professional market will be voluntary and investors will be free to chose a different settlement cycle with their broker, it said; both of the first two phases should be achieved by modifying Talisman, the existing share settlement system owned by the London Stock Exchange; the Crest system, which may be owned by the Bank itself, is not expected to start until 1996; the Treasury says it will work with a Bank of England-led steering committee to develop Crest technical specifications over the next six to nine months.
