Euroclear has completed its connection to the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS), the new unified platform for managing collateral across the euro area. The launch marks a significant shift in how eligible assets are mobilised between market participants and central banks within the Eurosystem, states Euroclear in a press release.
The ECMS replaces 20 separate National Central Bank (NCB) systems with a centralised infrastructure. By doing so, it enables a pan-European approach to managing collateral, which is expected to reduce fragmentation and increase operational efficiency in both bilateral and triparty arrangements. Market participants now have access to a single pool of eligible collateral across the euro area, making it easier to manage liquidity and support cross-border activity.
Through its international and domestic central securities depositories, Euroclear Bank, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, and Euroclear Finland, the group supported clients in mobilising over €550 billion in marketable assets to their respective central banks in the lead-up to the ECMS go-live. Integration with Target2-Securities allows clients to access both Central Bank Money (CeBM) and Commercial Bank Money (CoBM), with Euroclear Bank positioning this step as part of its longer-term plan to support CeBM settlement directly.
New access service
Alongside the ECMS connection, Euroclear has also rolled out a Central Bank Access Service, designed to handle the full end-to-end process of bilateral collateral settlement with central banks. The service, which forms part of Euroclear’s broader Collateral Highway offering, aims to automate collateral mobilisation and demobilisation, while aligning it more closely with settlement activity.
