Clifford Chance has acted for the joint lead managers on the issuance by Euroclear Investments of €300 million 12-year senior bonds (rated AA/AA- by Fitch and Standard and Poor's) and €400 million 30-year corporate hybrid bonds with the first call date at year 10 (rated A+/A by Fitch and Standard and Poor's). The coupons are 1.50% and 2.625% for the senior and hybrid bonds respectively. The bonds, issued on 11 April 2018, were issued under English law and have been admitted to trading on the Irish Stock Exchange plc, trading as Euronext Dublin. Placement was made across a broad range of qualified investors.

The net proceeds of the transaction will be used to strengthen Euroclear’s financial position in the context of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) applicable mainly to the Issuer’s main subsidiaries including, without limitation, Euroclear Bank SA and Euroclear SA/NV. The BRRD requires banks to meet a minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) so as to be able to absorb losses and restore their capital position, allowing them to continuously perform their critical economic functions in the event of a crisis. The proceeds of the transaction are expected to be down-streamed to Euroclear Bank and Euroclear SA/NV to reinforce their recovery capacity, in the form of instruments that include MREL and other loss absorption features.

The Clifford Chance team consisted of Cédric Burford, partner, Andrew McCann, senior associate, and Alexander Tollast, associate.