Euroclear clients deposited €23 trillion of assets for safekeeping and asset servicing with the Euroclear group of national and international central securities depositories in 2012.
The increase of just under €1 trillion year-on-year is part of a wider and longer-term trend, “where our growth rate in various measures of operating performance surpassed our nearest competitors,” according to a release from Euroclear.
Tim Howell, chief executive officer of Euroclear SA/NV said: "The uncertainty and volatility of local and international capital markets have shaped our 2012 operating results. Above all, the trust that our clients place with us to safeguard their assets under such risk-prone market conditions is clearly evidenced.”
However turnover, or the value of securities transactions settled, was €541.6 trillion in 2012, a 7 percent decrease compared with €580.6 trillion in 2011.
The number of netted transactions settled in the Euroclear group dipped by 2 percent in 2012 at 159 million, compared with 163 million in 2011.
As for a breakdown according to each Euroclear entity, securities under custody in Euroclear Bank rose slightly, but value of transactions processed by the bank declined and was attributed to lower trading volumes in European fixed income securities and lower ticket sizes.
The Euroclear entities in France, UK & Ireland, Nederland, Belgium, Sweden and Finland all saw an uptick in value of securities held for clients, but turnover decreased in every country, mostly due to lower fixed-income trading volumes.
However, Euroclear Belgium saw the value of securities held for clients rise the most out of all the Euroclear entities, recording a 20 percent increase from the €130 billion recorded in 2011. This brings Euroclear Belgium back to levels last experienced in 2010, and can be linked to rapidly recovering equity market activity in Belgium.
