The aim of the paper is to highlight the role of Central Securities Deposito- ries in the world economy and to analyse th e CSDs in Visegrad Treaty countries. Gene- ral trends of CSD and development of CSDs regulation are examined. Visegrad coun- tries CSDs are compared and analysed. Results: 1. Securities markets in Visegrad countries and their FMIs lag behind the development on the developed markets of the EU-15. The total share of CSDs of the Vi segrad countries in the performance of the ECSDA members is marginal. 2. CSD in Poland and in Hungary show better results than the Czech and Sl ovakian CSDs.