Euroclear clients deposited a record level of assets for safekeeping and asset servicing with the Euroclear group national and international central securities depositories (CSDs) in 2010. At the end of 2010, the equivalent of EUR 21.9 trillion of client assets were held by Euroclear entities, an increase of 10% compared with the end of 2009. The value of securities transactions settled by Euroclear group CSDs rose to EUR 526 trillion, or 5%, in 2010.
Tim Howell, Chief Executive Officer of Euroclear SA/NV, said: “The most important contribution made by Euroclear in 2010 was in sustaining operational stability and resilience for our clients. As the global capital markets continued to be volatile, presenting challenges and opportunities for our clients, the growth we experienced in both the value of transactions processed and assets held in custody for clients during this difficult period reinforces Euroclears strengths. Our strong asset protection and risk management practices, and improvements to our asset servicing and collateral management services, have contributed to the solid – and by some measures record – operational performance we achieved in 2010.
As trading volumes varied by country and asset class in 2010, operating performance fluctuated among the Euroclear entities, with some experiencing year-over-year gains in some measures while declining in others.
Operating highlights
The combined and entity-specific results of the Euroclear group are:
The value of securities held for Euroclear clients at the end of 2010 was a record EUR 21.9 trillion, 10% higher than the EUR 20.0 trillion at year-end 2009. Turnover, or the value of securities transactions settled, was EUR 526.1 trillion in 2010, a 5% increase compared with EUR 500.0 trillion in 2009. The number of netted transactions settled in the Euroclear group decreased by 14% to 150.4 million in 2010 compared with 175.2 million in 2009. The combined daily value of collateral provision outstanding in Euroclear Bank rose 42% in 2010. When combined with Euroclear UK & Ireland, the total value declined by 4% in 2010 to EUR 520.1 billion from EUR 544.2 billion at the end of 2009.
Breakdown per Euroclear entity
Securities held in custody for clients rose by 9% to a record EUR 10.5 trillion at the end of 2010 from EUR 9.6 trillion at the end of 2009. The value of transactions processed by Euroclear Bank in 2010 rose to EUR 265.8 trillion, a 21% increase from EUR 219.9 trillion in 2009. The number of transactions processed by Euroclear Bank in 2010 rose to a record 47.7 million, 21% more than the 39.3 million in 2009. Triparty collateral management deals outstanding administered by Euroclear Bank at year-end 2010 increased by 42% to EUR 302.9 billion per day compared with EUR 212.6 billion per day in 2009. This growth rate is particularly noteworthy in that it has elevated the value of Euroclear Banks triparty deals outstanding to pre-crisis levels. The volume increases in 2010 reflect business from a wider client base, as the need for secured financing continued to gain momentum.
Xtrakter
Xtrakter, part of the Euroclear group since April 2009, processed a total of 850 million transactions in 2010, representing a 47% increase from the 578 million transactions processed in 2009.
Investment funds
European investment funds had a volatile year in 2010. However, fund transaction processing within the Euroclear group continued to grow. The number of fund transactions processed by the Euroclear group reached a record 13.5 million in 2010, 23% above the 11.0 million processed in 2009. Of significance, fund order-routing traffic at Euroclear France increased by more than 110% in 2010 when comparing year-over-year December figures. The value of funds held for clients reached a record EUR 1.38 trillion at the end of 2010, a 6% increase over the EUR 1.3 trillion at the end of 2009, with the value of funds serviced by FundSettle increasing by 64% in 2010. FundSettle now covers more than 50,000 offshore and domestic funds from 22 countries, including clients in-house funds.
Orders routed through EMXCo, wich was merged into Euroclear UK & Ireland in September 2010 after joining the Euroclear group in 2007, routed a record 37 million investment fund transaction messages in 2010, a 23% increase from the 30 million messages routed in 2009. The strong results reflect the benefits of an increasingly integrated fund order routing, settlement and asset servicing portfolio across the Euroclear group.
D.C.