Message to the Senate Transmitting the Convention on the Law Applicable to Certain Rights in Respect of Securities Held With an Intermediary

To the Senate of the United States:

With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Convention on the Law Applicable to Certain Rights in Respect of Securities Held with an Intermediary (the "Convention"), done at The Hague on July 5, 2006, and signed by the United States on that same day. The report of the Secretary of State, which includes an Overview of the proposed Convention, is enclosed for the information of the Senate.

The United States supported the development of the Convention, which provides uniform rules for determining the law applicable to certain rights in commercial transactions involving investment securities held through intermediaries (such as brokers, banks, and other financial institutions). The Convention incorporates modern commercial finance methods already market-tested in the United States through the Uniform Commercial Code. It would ensure that countries that become party to this Convention would also apply those methods. The Convention, once in force, would improve the functioning of investment securities markets, reduce uncertainty in cross-border commerce, and reduce national and cross-border systemic risk.

The Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and the New York Federal Reserve Bank support ratification by the United States of this Convention, as do key private sector associations. I recommend, therefore, that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Convention and give its advice and consent to its ratification.

Barack Obama

The White House,

May 17, 2012.