Jan Willems, Head of Product Management Global Markets at Clearstream.  Clearstream

Jan Willems, Head of Product Management Global Markets at Clearstream.  Clearstream

By connecting global and emerging markets to the international investment community, Clearstream is supporting the development of an international financial market from which everyone can benefit.

Known to international investors as a settlement and custody service provider for the exchange of bonds, equities and funds, Clearstream plays a key role in supporting the emerging capital markets. “On a day-to-day basis, we maintain quality links between the most mature capital markets and their participants around the world. Beyond that, within the framework of our mission, we are helping to open up access to new markets in regions whose development implies a significant need for financing and which also represent new opportunities for the international investment community,” explains Jan Willems, Head of Product Management Global Markets at Clearstream.

Supporting emerging markets

Clearstream, the Luxembourg subsidiary of Deutsche Börse, currently has a network linked to 59 domestic markets. The last to join was Serbia, which was added last October, following other jurisdictions, such as Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia  and Ukraine over the recent years. The network’s global coverage represents approximately 86% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The intention is to give these emerging markets, which have significant needs, greater access to financing. Their development requires new infrastructure and economic transformation. It is essential for local authorities to be able to sell and promote bonds internationally, which can be difficult without a network that can offer international investors a guarantee of trustworthiness,” explains Jan Willems. Clearstream’s approach is to support emerging markets by providing them with a set of requirements for gaining access to the international markets available through its network.

Offering new investment opportunities

On the other hand, the extension of this network to new markets also responds to the global investment community’s desire to access new opportunities. “The aim is to let investors outsource to us the management of the post-trade challenges  and complexity inherent in accessing each market, so they can focus on their investment strategy, especially in a still challenging bond yield environment globally” continues the Head of Product Management Global Markets. “Through us, they can enact transactions without having to establish relationships with local banks, safe in the knowledge that the prerequisites relating to the operation of the market and matters of transparency are guaranteed.”

Harmonisation and stability

With €17 trillion in assets under custody, Clearstream is now one of the world’s largest settlement and custody firms for domestic and international securities. “Today, the growth of assets under custody is to a substantial  extent driven by the opening of these new markets. This network expansion does more than benefit our structure, however,” continues Jan Willems. “It also contributes to the development of these emerging nations and the stabilisation of their currencies as well as de-dollarisation of their capital markets. Naturally, it has the added benefit of reinforcing Luxembourg’s position, with its triple-A rating, as a global centre for securing the exchange of securities.

In the years to come, Clearstream intends to expand its network further by continuing discussions with authorities in emerging markets. These talks will focus primarily on those with the greatest development needs that also offer attractive investment opportunities for investors around the globe. In this way, the Luxembourg firm intends to contribute to the stabilisation and harmonisation of a global financial market.

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