Clearstream to invest in Digital Vault Services

Clearstream, Deutsche Börse's post-trade business, intends to make an investment in Digital Vault Services (DVS), a pioneering fintech offering issuance and safekeeping services for digital bank guarantees and sureties in Europe. The investment is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and finalisation of legal documentation.

The investment enables DVS to further enhance and broaden its offering as a market infrastructure solution for corporates and financial institutions. The mid-term plan will be to integrate DVS's Guarantee Vault with D7, the digital post-trade platform of Deutsche Börse and its post-trade business Clearstream. This will allow D7 for the first time to expand its digital asset product portfolio to non-securities.

With DVS's established offering in Europe coupled with Clearstream's leverage and experience offering market infrastructure solutions and connectivity, both parties seek to bring added value to the trade finance ecosystem of corporates, banks and insurers.

Jens Hachmeister, Head of Issuer Services & New Digital Markets at Clearstream, said: "Digital leadership is a central part of Deutsche Börse Group's Horizon 2026 strategy. The companies' shared commitment to market innovation makes DVS a perfect fit for Deutsche Börse and Clearstream. We are convinced that DVS's innovative approach to digital bank guarantees, combined with D7's track record in digitising securities and Clearstream's central role in global financial markets, will drive significant growth and deliver value for our clients and ultimately the entire financial industry."

Ludger Janssen, Co-CEO of Digital Vault Services, added: "Clearstream has emerged as a strategic ally for DVS, echoing our dedication to streamlining processes and recognizing the transformative potential of digitisation in the financial industry, in particular with regards to guarantee management. With technology as our foundation, together with Clearstream and our central and digital guarantee registry, we foresee a unique end-to-end solution that disrupts and modernises outdated procedures with unparalleled efficiency."

Jaime Gimeno, Co-CEO of Digital Vault Services, added: "Back in 2018, when designing a solution to the cumbersome paper-based process for issuing and storing guarantees, we took inspiration from the central securities depository model used in the securities industry. This strategic partnership with Clearstream now represents a major milestone in our growth journey towards becoming the recognized market infrastructure solution for guarantees in Europe. As we move forward the partnership also positions DVS for exciting new use cases and instruments."

The investment will be done in exchange for a minority stake and is expected to be completed in H2/2024, subject to applicable regulatory approvals and finalisation of legal documentation.

Digitising financial markets

Today's financial markets are highly fragmented with isolated technology solutions, resulting in slow processes, high error rates and costs for all market participants. Digital solutions aim to counter these problems by connecting networks and market players across system boundaries, thereby boosting transparency, process efficiency and technology interoperability.

Deutsche Börse and its post-trade business Clearstream provide with their digital post-trade platform D7 a fully digital alternative to conventional physical issuance and managing of financial securities, reducing the time-to-market for securities from days to minutes.

With its Guarantee Vaults product, DVS provides a digital solution allowing corporates to centrally issue and store bank guarantees that are required across different segments as industry standard.

[Editorial note: Please find here a high-resolution photo of Jens Hachmeister.]

About Clearstream

Clearstream is the innovative and trusted post-trade business for the global markets. It runs the leading securities and funds servicing ecosystems of tomorrow. The company operates the German and Luxembourg central securities depositories and an international central securities depository for the Eurobonds market. With 18 trillion Euros in assets under custody, it is one of the world's largest settlement and custody firms for domestic and international securities.

It also delivers premier fund execution, distribution, data and reporting services, covering over 55 fund markets worldwide. Clearstream is part of Deutsche Börse Group, an international exchange organisation and provider of innovative market infrastructures.

To learn more, visit us at www.clearstream.com or connect via LinkedIn.

About Digital Vault Services

The idea for Digital Vault Services emerged in 2017 from the needs of the Treasury department of Lindner Group KG, Arnstorf, Germany. A strong working group of corporates and financial institutions from across Europe then came together to design a market solution to a common problem around the paper-based guarantee process. Since then, Digital Vault Services has rapidly evolved, gaining strong traction in DACH and now expanding into other European markets including the Nordics. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Digital Vault Services is at the forefront of guarantee digitisation. The current shareholders, being Lindner Group KG and Management, now welcome Deutsche Börse to join them on the exciting journey ahead.

Visit us at www.digitalvaultservices.com or connect via LinkedIn to get to know more about Digital Vault Services and Guarantee Vault.