Euroclear’s Q1 2021 report has revealed that assets under custody have increased by 16 per cent to €34.1 trillion, boosted by equity market recovery combined with new issuances and business strategy progress.
The report found that fund assets under custody reached €2.7 trillion demonstrating growth of 28 per cent. Euroclear says this growth reflects the appeal of Euroclear FundsPlace.
Euroclearability also attracted international issuers and investors, which supported an increase of 19 per cent in global reach assets under custody to €1.4 trillion.
Collateral outstanding increased 12 per cent year on year with Euroclear’s Collateral Highway mobilising €1.7 trillion.
Also on the up was settlement volumes, which grew 6 per cent year on year to 76 million netted transactions processed by Euroclear’s infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the report also reported growth of 12 per cent in business income which reached €358 million, driven by strategic progress, sustained settlement activity, higher equity valuations and new issuance by governments and corporations.
Banking and other income decreased 61 per cent to €24 million as expected, given the lower interest rate environment compared to Q1 2020. Resulting total Q1 revenues of €382 million were flat year-on-year, despite the reduction of interest-related income.
Euroclear’s report also identified operating costs were up 2 per cent to €218 million, in line with expectations, despite the strong growth in business activity.
Reflecting on the results, Euroclear notes that given the strong business income growth, it expects full year 2021 financial performance at a similar or higher level compared to 2020.
Elsewhere, Euroclear’s three central securities depositories (CSDs) in France, Belgium and the Netherlands (ESES CSDs) have rolled out a new shareholder identification service called InvestorInsight.
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