Euroclear Bank will be the first international central securities depository to offer automated, multi-currency post-trade services for syndicated loans in Europe. Following the Loan Market Association’s call in January for greater processing standardisation, Euroclear Bank will start to roll out its service early in the third quarter of 2008, ultimately providing nine core service features for syndicated loans.
In the first instance, clients involved in syndicated loans will benefit from three features:
- the assignment of unique loan identification codes;
- a centralised database containing static and dynamic loan information, at commitment, contract and letter of credit level; and
- consolidated reporting of lender balances via secure, automated, electronic communication.
Clients will commence testing at the end of April.
Ignace R. Combes, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Euroclear SA/NV, said: “The growth and maturity of syndicated loans as an established asset class has prompted the need for a neutral, market-owned processing solution. We are responding to the Loan Market Association’s request for greater posttrade efficiency and automation in the European syndicated loan market. By leveraging our resilient systems and multi-jurisdictional transactionprocessing expertise, used for a wide range of asset classes, we are well placed to deliver a complementary service.”
Euroclear Bank is currently in the process of defining additional service requirements for pilot testing with selected clients in the second half of 2008 to cover:
- portfolio reconciliation;
- agent notices (in cooperation with SWIFT); and
- automated trade/legal confirmation matching.
About Euroclear
Euroclear is the world's largest provider of domestic and cross-border
settlement and related services for bond, equity, derivatives and fund
transactions. User owned and user governed, the Euroclear group comprises
the international central securities depository (CSD) Euroclear Bank, based
in Brussels, as well as national CSDs Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear France,
Euroclear Nederland and Euroclear UK & Ireland. Euroclear also owns
EMXCo, the UK’s leading provider of investment-fund order routing.
The total value of securities transactions settled by the Euroclear group is
in excess of EUR 560 trillion per annum, while assets held for clients are
valued at more than EUR 19 trillion. Euroclear Bank is rated AA+ by
Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
