Euroclear Group

Become a sponsor »

Euroclear
Founded	1968
Headquarters	Brussels, Belgium
Key People	Valerie Urbain, CEO
Employees	Over 3,000
Products	Settlement services for bonds, equities and investment funds
Website	https://www.euroclear.com/en.html

Euroclear is Europe's largest provider of post-trade services. In the first nine months of 2025 the group processed 267 million transactions with a turnover exceeding €1 quadrillion, and reported Assets Under Custody above €41 trillion. As of 31 December 2025, Euroclear is owned by a diversified group of institutional shareholders, with its largest stakes held by Sicovam Holding S.A. (15.89%), Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (11.41%), Société Fédérale de Participations et d'Investissement (9.85%), a consortium of Belgian shareholders (9.17%), NZSF Euro Limited (8.67%), Kuri Atyak Investment Ltd (7.25%), Novo Holdings A/S (4.99%), GIC (4.99%), NSW TCorp (4.98%) and Euronext Brussels SA (3.53%).

The Euroclear Group includes Euroclear Bank, based in Brussels, as well as the national central securities depositories Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear UK, and Ireland Euroclear. Euroclear also owns EMXCo, the UK’s leading provider of investment fund order routing.

Euroclear, the central securities depository, is a core part of the international financial infrastructure, settling cross-border trades and acting as custodian of €42.5tn in assets, including corporate and government bonds, equities, and derivatives. It holds these assets on behalf of clients and settles trades when they are executed. It also pays out coupon payments and redemptions.

Frozen Russian assets and litigation

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union and other jurisdictions imposed sanctions that resulted in large Russian sovereign holdings being immobilized in European financial infrastructure. Reporting indicates that roughly €185 billion of Russian central‑bank assets remain blocked in European jurisdictions, with Euroclear holding a substantial share of those assets in safekeeping and settlement accounts.

Russia's central bank filed a lawsuit against Euroclear in Moscow in early December 2025 seeking $230 billion in damages, the first step in what the Kremlin has warned would be a "legal nightmare" for the EU over plans to use the frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.

History

While several entities that are now part of the Euroclear group were established earlier, the Euroclear name was established in Brussels in the 1960s in response to the development of the eurobond market. The settlement mechanics in that market before Euroclear were complex, requiring physical delivery of certificates and cash, resulting in long delays and excessive counterparty and market risk. The Brussels office of Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York founded the Euroclear System in December 1968 to enhance efficiency and minimize risk in the settlement of USD eurobond transactions. It was the world's first International Central Securities Depository (ICSD).

In the early 1970s, the Euroclear System was sold to the market-owned company Euroclear Clearance System Plc, which Morgan Guaranty Trust continued to operate. Euroclear has been user-owned ever since.

Euroclear progressively expanded its service offering to include links to domestic bond, equity and, later on, fund markets. More recently, it also developed products to manage derivatives exposures and settle transactions in emission rights.

Over the years, Euroclear has continually built on its core settlement and safekeeping function, offering extensive wholesale custody, securities lending and borrowing and collateral management services.

This expanded coverage has strengthened the ICSD's role as a single access point for multiple markets and instruments.

A major development came in 2000, when Euroclear Bank, an independent, user-owned and user-governed company, was launched to assume the operating and banking roles previously performed by Morgan Guaranty Trust.

Euroclear has since been at the forefront of settlement infrastructure consolidation in Europe. The first step was the Central Bank of Ireland 's outsourcing of Irish government bond settlement activity to Euroclear Bank in 2000. There then followed an intense phase of mergers with European Central Securities Depositories (CSDs):

• Euroclear France

Joined the Euroclear group: January 2001 Established: 1949 as Sicovam Euroclear France is the CSD of France and is established under French law.

• Euroclear Nederland

Joined the Euroclear group: May 2002 Established: 1977 as Nederlands Centraal Instituut voor Giraal Effectenverkeer BV (NECIGEF) Euroclear Nederland is the CSD of The Netherlands. All securities transactions settled through Euroclear Nederland are subject to Dutch law and take place in compliance with the Securities Giro Act (Wet Giraal Effectenverkeer).

• Euroclear UK & Ireland

Joined the Euroclear group: September 2002 Established: 1993 as CRESTCo, start of operations in 1996 Euroclear UK & Ireland is the CSD for UK securities and Irish equities. It is established as a Recognised Clearing House under the Financial Services and Markets Act and as Operator of the settlement system under the Uncertified Securities Regulations 2001 (as amended).

• Euroclear Belgium

Joined the Euroclear group: January 2006 Established: 1967 as Caisse Interprofessionnelle de Dépôts et de Virements de Titres (CIK)/Interprofessionele Effectendeposito- en Girokas Euroclear Belgium is the CSD for Belgium and is incorporated under and subject to Belgian law.

In January 2007, the fund order routing provider EMXCo also became part of the Euroclear group. Established in 1999, EMXCo operates the EMX Message System, which is the de facto standard for mutual fund order routing in the United Kingdom. This is an important step in Euroclear’s strategy to improve the efficiency of both domestic and cross-border funds processing.

As a result of these mergers, the corporate structure of the Euroclear group was reorganized on Jan. 1, 2005. The international CSD Euroclear Bank, formerly the parent company of the group's other entities, became a sister company of those entities, and a new non-bank holding company, Euroclear SA/NV, became the parent company of all the entities.

Euroclear then began implementing a business model to make cross-border settlement cheaper and more efficient, helping to create a domestic market for Europe. Euroclear SA/NV is developing the group’s single platform.

Following intensive market-wide consultation, the first stage of Euroclear’s single platform, the Single Settlement Engine (SSE) was fully implemented in early 2007. The SSE consolidates settlement processing across the group entities and is the foundation for future integration.

In November 2007, Euroclear launched the first phase of Euroclear Settlement of Euronext-zone Securities (ESES) to provide the Euronext-zone market CSDs (Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear France and Euroclear Nederland) with an integrated settlement solution and harmonised custody service for stock exchange and over-the-counter activities. The exchange said it was an important intermediary step toward the Single Platform.

In October 2017 Royal Bank of Scotland Group sold its 4 percent stake in Euroclear to Intercontinental Exchange Holdings for EUR 275 million in cash.

In January 2019, the London Stock Exchange said it would buy a minority stake in Euroclear, giving it a role in all parts of a transaction from trading to clearing and settlement.

In October 2021, the global technology investment firm Silver Lake agreed to acquire Intercontinental Exchange’s 9.85% stake in Euroclear Holding SA for €709 million. The transaction is expected to close as soon as the first half of 2022.

In May of 2026, Euroclear said it planned to accept mainland Chinese bonds traded in Hong Kong as collateral, aiding Beijing's push to internationalize its currency. Euroclear is reportedly working with Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to participate in the Bond Connect program linking the mainland with offshore investors. The Chinese government owns a 7.25 per cent stake in Euroclear through its State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe), via the company Kuri Atyak Investment, making it Euroclear's sixth-largest shareholder.

Key People

• Valérie Urbain, Chief Executive Officer of Euroclear SA/NV
• Bernard Frenay, Chief Executive Officer European markets
• Sebastien Danloy, Chief Business Officer
• Nils Jean-Mairet, Chief Financial Officer
• Jo Van de Velde, Head of Product Management