Euroclear Names HSBC’s Howell as New CEO
January 5, 2010
Brussels-based Euroclear SA has appointed Tim Howell as its new chief executive, replacing Pierre Francotte, who is leaving after 10 years in the role.
Howell is currently the global head of HSBC Securities Services in London. He is responsible there for the custody, fund administration and corporate trust businesses of the bank. He previously served as group treasurer, in charge of asset and liability management and head of market risk.
The new CEO, who is a chartered accountant, has been a board member of Euroclear since 2007 and is also chairman of its risk committee. Francotte, who revealed his intention to leave Euroclear in June 2009, will stay on until Howell’s arrival. No handover date has been disclosed.
“Tim’s broad experience in the financial markets provides the right qualifications to carry the Euroclear group forward,” said Nigel Wicks, chairman of Euroclear in a statement today. “His experience in managing a successful financial business operating in a number of countries will be of great value to Euroclear in the years ahead.”
Euroclear SA is the world’s largest provider of domestic and cross-border settlement services and owns international securities depository Euroclear Bank in Brussels as well as the national central securities depositories Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear Finland, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Sweden and Euroclear U.K. & Ireland.
Last year alone, the Euroclear group of depositories settled more than EUR560 trillion in securities transactions and held more than EUR18 trillion in assets for its bank and brokerage customers. Euroclear SA also owns EMXCo, which provides investment fund order routing in the U.K. and Xtrackter which operates the Trax trade matching and reporting system.
Howell’s appointment comes at a time of change for the European post-trade landscape. As the European Central Bank implements its Target2Securities settlement system in 2013, national depositories operated by Euroclear, the Deutsche Borse’s Clearstream and others will come under pressure to add services to compensate for the potential loss of revenue from basic settlement services taken over by the ECB.
While Europe’s central bank claims that it can reduce the costs of settling trades in Europe, Euroclear has also touted the cost savings and operational efficiencies of its new multi-currency operating system. To be completed in 2011, the single platform will incorporate seven European Union markets which represent more than 65 percent of Europe's blue-chip equities and more than 50 percent of the European Union’s fixed-income market, says Euroclear.
The single platform will not only settle domestic and cross-border transactions, it will also process all custody, securities financing and collateral management transactions in central and commercial bank monies.
