Who we are

2020

• Covid-19 emerged in the world early 2020 and AACB, like anyone else in the industry, had to make quick changes to deal with staff work from home; having offices in many different jurisdictions, we had to deal with multiple and varied local regulations. The WFH-shift proved successful and we were able to continue servicing our clients with minimal disruptions.

• During a period of most active and volatile markets, and despite the WFH circumstances, AACB processed 5.3 billion trades in 2020, versus 3.5 billion the year before; a record volume of more than 50 million transactions was processed in a single day, almost double the previous peak.

• During the market turmoil in the first quarter some clients experienced difficulties and one client defaulted, due to a major market dislocation. We take pride in our client default track record, which was damaged by this event. An intensive, global risk self-assessment culminated in an extensive enhancement programme to incorporate new data points in our risk metrics. AACB revised its early-warning indicators, and made risk processes even more robust. We felt it was our responsibility to do our utmost for our shareholder, our clients and our staff. AACB was able to end the year ‘in the black’ with a small positive net operating result, which was quite an achievement given the scale of the loss taken.

• In August, the Corporate & Institutional Banking (C&IB) division of our shareholder, ABN AMRO Bank, withdrew from both the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region and the Americas (both USA and Brazil). AACB is keeping a global presence, taking up a full banking license in certain locations (Hong Kong, Brazil) and where needed beefing up its local teams as a fully licensed entity in its own right.

2019

• ABN AMRO Clearing acts as clearing agent for Eurex Clearing’s ISA Direct service for OTC Interest Rate Derivatives – a direct clearing membership for buy side firms. With this model, Eurex addresses changes in the regulatory landscape and contributes to the safety, robustness and efficiency of the overall market. In its first year, ABN AMRO acts as clearing agent for Swiss Life Asset Managers and for Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien AG (RLB NÖ-Wien).

• Demonstrating its commitment to compensate for its global data center exhaust, ABN AMRO Clearing launches an Employee and Climate Action Reforestation Program with Land Life Company. It is important that our commitment to sustainability is tangible and that our employees and customers can see the impact created on the ground.

2018

• The innovative ‘Banking as a Service’ (BaaS) is launched, developed on a new distributed ledger platform, based on Hyperledger fabric (blockchain). The BaaS solution enables financial services companies to hold client cash amounts for and on behalf of their respective clients. This works by use of individual client bank accounts held in the books of ABN AMRO Clearing Bank NV, as an alternative for escrow accounts. A first partnership is announced with Nx’change, a full-service exchange platform for tokenised securities and digital assets.

• As a testimony to our ESG commitment, ABN AMRO Clearing sings a Memorandum of Understanding with Frontclear. The latter is a development finance company contributing to economic growth and financial stability through inclusive and liquid money markets. Both companies express a shared commitment to address clearing and settlement challenges in emerging and frontier markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

2017

• ABN AMRO Clearing Bank hooked up directly to Monte Titoli as a Directly Connected Party (DCP), leveraging on its existing T2S connection to settle all transactions in Italian securities.

2016

• Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) welcomed ABN AMRO Clearing Bank N.V. as a Special Clearing Member on Dubai Commodities Clearing Corporation (DCCC) to deepen access to DGCX, the Middle East’s largest derivatives market.

• ABN AMRO Clearing launches a clearing offering on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in an effort to support its client trading central European markets.

2015

• In January 2015 the first futures trades were cleared by our Brazil operations. In September 2015 we obtained a full clearing license and now also clear options and securities.

2014

• ABN AMRO Clearing sells 75% of HCH to Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

2013

• The Brazil market holds a tremendous growth potential and access represents a high priority for our traditional client base. ABN AMRO Clearing had already been active in the market for a few years through a local provider. The complexity of the market did not allow to scale that off-shore business model. A more sustainable solution was put in place when ABN AMRO Bank took over Banco CR2, a local merchant bank that merged with ABN AMRO Brazil. Benefiting from the newly acquired banking license, AAC started a project to become a local clearer on BM&F BOVESPA.

• ABN AMRO Clearing sells 50% of EMCF to EuroCCP and BATS-Chi-X.

2011

• The creation of Holland Clearing House (HCH) opened up the possibility for The Order Machine (TOM) to service derivatives retail flow on a ‘best execution’ basis. This successful initiative allowed stakeholders to manage and control both costs and service in every part of the value chain. In a relatively short period of time, TOM reached market shares of more than 30% in equity and index option contracts on the Dutch market.

2009

• In April 2009 Fortis Bank Netherlands merged with ABN AMRO Bank, which after the take-over and split of the company was fully focused on the Dutch market. Our name changed into ABN AMRO Clearing Bank later that year. With the support of the newly formed bank, we managed to recover our Chicago team and clients. It was the start of a new era and with the full support of the Board of the new Bank, ABN AMRO Clearing managed to engage on its growth path again.

• The ABN AMRO Clearing office in Tokyo cleared its first transaction in 2009. It took a lot of patience and preparation to obtain all necessary licenses as a clearing firm. Many from our existing customers cleared with 3rd parties at the time. Offering a robust and cost-effective solution enabled to rapidly grow our clearing flows. In a very short time, ABN AMRO Clearing has won important market shares in the Japanese derivatives and equity market, measured by the number of transactions processed.

2008

• The banking crisis hit Fortis Group hard. As a separate bank with its own banking license, Fortis Bank Global Clearing managed to weather the storm thanks to tremendous commitment of management and staff. Clients cautiously monitored developments, but stayed on board: a true testimony of the partnership built over the years. After Fortis Bank Netherlands was taken over by the Dutch government a new and uncertain, independent journey started. Some essential parts of the bank found themselves ‘at the other side of the fence’ (Fortis Clearing Chicago).

• At the same time we needed to rebuild our access to the financial markets to assure our funding requirements in Asia in the post-Fortis era. For this purpose a new banking branch was created in Singapore and the quest for a banking license began. The full banking license was obtained from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2009.

2007

• In the run up to the implementation of MiFID, Fortis Clearing teamed up with some of its major clients and with Chi-X to create a new CCP. The creation of the European Multilateral Clearing Facility (EMCF) in 2007 enabled the newly established Multilateral Trading Facilities (MTFs) to compete on pricing and service for every part of the value chain. This greenfield initiative turned into a huge success for the MTFs and EMCF rapidly became the biggest pan-European clearing house for cash securities.

• In order to keep pace with further business expansion in Asia, it was also decided to set up a subsidiary in Tokyo.

2006

• Fortis Bank Global Clearing completed its access to the US markets by acquiring O’Connor, a Chicago based, well-established and highly respected FCM and broker dealer. It was the start of a second wave of international expansion with the support of the Fortis group.

2005

• A new Clearing subsidiary was set up in Singapore to keep track of the expansion of our client base in the Asian region. Double digit growth numbers were posted several years in a row, and staff numbers went up quickly. This new local presence scored impressive progress in the domain of client satisfaction, market share and number of clients.

2003

• The internal market within the EU for Financial Services companies had become much more competitive and a new strategy was required. The clearing business took on a more global dimension and merged with the custody unit. In 2003 Fortis Bank Global Clearing NV was founded as a separate legal entity with a full banking license. This new entity showed unique strengths through the combination of deep asset servicing knowledge and global clearing capacity. To remain competitive we moved beyond the separate office approach and installed increased internal communication and cross-border collaboration. We focused on Principal Trading Groups and invested in new products and services for these core clients, supporting their growth plans in every region covered.

2000

• Trading Floors shifted systematically to electronic exchanges. Clients wanted to trade more markets, more products, more equities, more warrants, more ETF's and generally push their position. MeesPierson, at the time part of the Fortis Group, took over the clearing operations of Transmarket, a Proprietary Trading Firm and Futures Commission Merchant in Chicago. This opened the door to start clearing futures for the local subsidiaries of some of our most important clients in Europe and Asia.

1993-1998

• On the back of derivatives exchanges starting to grow strongly and emerging around the world. The international expansion began. Offices were opened in Frankfurt (1993), Hong Kong (1995) and Sydney (1998). Floor Based Markets dominated the industry and personal relationships drove business. Indeed, a number of ABN AMRO Clearing’s best customers today date back to this time, when teams of only a handful of guys in colourful jackets filled the trading floor.

1990-1993

• In 1991 the newly formed ABN AMRO Bank was the parent company of both Mees & Hope, a bank with a long-standing custody pedigree, and Pierson, Heldring & Pierson. It was decided to merge both subsidiaries and a new brand was created: MeesPierson. At the Regulators request the clearing business, aiming for Public Order Members (POMs), was to be segregated from the general banking business. In line with this instruction, a new entity called “General Derivatives Services BV” was put into place. Our deep knowledge of asset servicing originates from many years ago. In 1992 MeesPierson Custody Services was established, a commercial initiative to consolidate the existing correspondent banking relationships and local custody services. Strong growth was witnessed, and it did not take long for this new company to become a leading local custodian in the Netherlands. Testimony to the quality of the service were multiple ‘Top Rankings’ awarded by the Global Custodian magazine.

1982-1989

• Pierson Options Clearing, one of the legal predecessors of ABN AMRO Clearing, was created in 1982 to support and guarantee the floor traders on the EOE. It was a successful initiative that established a good reputation in the market. A first office out of the Netherlands was opened in London in 1985.