Expect more investment flows between Europe and Asia amid US uncertainty: Euroclear CEO Valerie Urbain
[SINGAPORE] There will likely be more investment flows between Europe and Asia as volatility and uncertainty persist in the US, said Valerie Urbain, chief executive of financial market infrastructure services provider Euroclear.
In Europe, there is a growing willingness to look for opportunities outside the US, which can potentially lead to increased collaboration with Asia.
Meanwhile, Europe could also see a growing interest from Asian investors.
'At least in Europe, we are trying to defend the legal certainty, and to respect the rules,' Urbain said in an interview with The Business Times.
Euroclear offers settlement and asset servicing worldwide on securities transactions. These include domestic and international bonds, equities, derivatives and investment funds. Its assets under custody amounted to 40.7 trillion euros (S$59.1 trillion) as at end-2024.
Urbain noted that the company has seen 'tremendous' volumes of transactions in all directions since the US administration announced global tariffs.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
While many investors are maintaining a wait-and-see attitude during the 90-day pause, she expects there will be underlying structural changes, regardless of the outcome of negotiations.
'I believe that every country has started to realise that they were too dependent on too few countries, so there is this willingness for every country to reduce this dependency on very few partners,' she said.
Urbain was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Euroclear's Singapore branch, which will replace its representative office in the Republic.
The branch – which was set up after Euroclear bagged a wholesale banking licence in Singapore in February 2025 – is part of the Belgium-headquartered company's strategy to expand in Asia, as it continues to see rising demand from the region.
'In the last three years, we're starting to see a lot more investment flows within Asian countries, and not necessarily with Europe in the middle,' she said. 'We also started seeing more investment flows between Asian markets and the Middle East.'
In 2024, Euroclear made various moves to strengthen its footprint in the region. It acquired a strategic stake in Singapore-based digital market infrastructure operator Marketnode. It also took part in an initiative by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to create a tokenisation framework.
Urbain noted that the link between Europe and Asia goes both ways. For example, some 50 per cent of Euro bonds are issued in euros, with one-third bought by non-European investors, including those in Asia.
Meanwhile, Euroclear's links with domestic central securities depositories in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore has also channelled Western investors into domestic securities.
On collateral services, Urbain said she has seen a lot of demand from institutional investors to use Asian securities as collateral to support their financing activity.
With its new wholesale banking licence in Singapore, the CEO said Euroclear will be able to expand its existing activities, such as in operations – a role that used to be handled out of its Hong Kong office.
The company is also looking to develop product management roles in Singapore so that it can create products which respond to local needs. Urbain noted that the Republic is unique for its position as a regional hub for asset management and wealth.
While Euroclear continues to mainly service the banks, that often involves working with the wealth or asset management divisions of these lenders, particularly for the company's growing funds business.
Even among international banks, their activities in Singapore are focused on wealth and asset management, Urbain said.
Meanwhile, there is also the unique Singapore Inc branding. She said: 'You do see a full ecosystem that is very intertwined and geared towards developing Singapore as a financial centre.'
Looking ahead, Euroclear will continue to develop links with local markets, including those in Indonesia, India and China, Urbain said. The CEO is also looking to further expand its funds business and develop Euroclear's Asian offices as a competent centre for mutual funds and the alternative funds.
Urbain also said the company's collateral management service, which is prominent in Europe, is not yet fully leveraged in Asia.
Meanwhile, she wants to support local players through partnership, which includes sharing its best practices and know-how to promote interoperability between Europe and Asia.
'Continuing to do what we do is fine, but I want to do more, because I want to make sure that we also service the flows which are within Asia,' Urbain said. 'But for that to be successful, we need to collaborate with local players.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
41 minutes ago
- CNA
Salon chain HairFun admits to unfair practices targeting elderly customers
SINGAPORE: Hair salons operating under the HairFun brand have admitted to engaging in unfair trade practices targeting elderly consumers, and have agreed to refund affected customers and stop such conduct, Singapore's consumer watchdog said on Wednesday (Jun 4). The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) launched investigations after the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) received complaints about the sales tactics by HairFun employees. After conducting unannounced visits at three HairFun outlets in October 2024, CCCS said that it found that Hairfun Beauty Pte Ltd and Hairfun Pte Ltd, between May 2023 and July 2024, had targeted elderly consumers by offering free or low-cost haircuts ranging from S$4 (US$3) to S$10. CCCS also found through its investigations that the HairFun companies had misled elderly customers about the necessity of treatment packages and charged them expensive services and packages that they had not asked for. In one instance, an elderly customer visited a HairFun outlet in Ang Mo Kio for an S$8 haircut. A HairFun employee then showed the customer images on a monitor, claiming the images showed "haemorrhaging on the elderly consumer's scalp" despite no device having been used to scan the customer's head. Without the customer's consent, the employee proceeded to use a powder to wash the customer's hair. When the customer wanted to make the payment, the employee hid the payment amount and told the customer to enter their PIN into the payment device. The customer was charged nearly S$1,000 and told that he had a hair wash and a 10-session hair treatment package, both of which he had not consented to purchasing. CCCS said the customer only discovered he had been misled after consulting a doctor who confirmed that his head and scalp were normal and showed no signs of haemorrhaging. "As part of the undertaking given to CCCS, the HairFun companies and their directors, Mr Roland Teo Jian Hao and Mdm Chiong Hong Hioh, have admitted to engaging in unfair trade practices," said CCCS. They have promised to "stop all unfair trade practices, cooperate with CASE to resolve all complaints relating to unfair trade practices and provide a five-day cooling period for customs to cancel and get a refund for any prepaid packages", CCCS added. The hair salon chain has also agreed to refund all affected consumers and has, to date, completed almost all of the refunds. The refunded amount totalled approximately S$12,500. "CCCS is concerned about elderly consumers being targeted and misled by errant businesses to pay for services that they did not agree to purchase," said the Singapore consumer watchdog's CEO, Mr Alvin Koh. "In dealing with vulnerable consumers, which may include the elderly, businesses must exercise extra care and check that they fully understand and agree to what they are buying, including the price, before they complete the sale. "In view of Singapore's ageing population, CCCS will step up our community outreach to better educate and equip our seniors with knowledge so as to better protect them." CCCS advises businesses to recommend and provide goods and services that genuinely meet consumers' needs and should never resort to misleading consumers or using undue pressure sales tactics. Customers should also not feel obliged to pay for goods or services that they did not ask for, CCCS added.
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
More Chinese corporates eyeing deals in Asean, secondary listings on SGX
[SINGAPORE] Chinese corporates are increasingly looking for deals in South-east Asia amid rising uncertainty from US trade policies, said Jason Saw, head of investment banking at CGS International. Saw expects CGSI will see eight to 10 major deals in the coming months, in its four key markets in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, with many of these transactions coming from Chinese and Hong Kong-based companies. These companies are in the infrastructure, green energy, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors. 'Essentially, our focus is to look for companies that have growth – they're not your old-school economy ideas where growth is in the single digits; a lot of the opportunities we bring are new thematics,' said Saw in an interview with The Business Times. Particularly in Singapore, Saw said he sees interest from Chinese companies to make secondary listings on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). 'If you have monitored the markets this year, A+H share listings have been very hot... So if we can replicate a bit of that success in Singapore, I think it'll be a very big win,' Saw said. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up He raised the example of Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL)'s dual listing in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. A+H share listings refer to Chinese companies that list their shares on the Shanghai or Shenzhen Stock Exchange, known as A-shares, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, known as H-shares. In May, Shenzhen-listed CATL listed in Hong Kong in the world's biggest initial public offering (IPO) this year, signalling strong prospects for Chinese equities despite global market uncertainty. These Chinese corporates like that Singapore can give them international recognition, and that the SGX is a transparent neutral ground. They can also have a shorter time to market if they list in Singapore, given that the queue for IPO listings in Hong Kong or mainland China is 'quite long', Saw said. Deglobalisation After US President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day', Saw said he saw rising engagement from corporates, especially from Chinese companies. The escalation in the trade war between US and China has increased the appetite for diversification, he noted. Saw said: '(Chinese corporates) seem to understand the need to diversify from the US and into other markets, and South-east Asia is clearly on their radar.' Chinese companies are also interested in building distribution channels in the region. Saw said the South-east Asian consumer distribution is 'under appreciated' because the markets are fragmented. 'What they want to do is to export that product out into this region, find local partners and grow the business to cater for the local population – Asean has 600 million consumers; if every head count consumes one item, that's a huge market for each and every Chinese product out there.' Much of the conversation that he has with Chinese companies also revolves around serving the local markets. 'Beyond capital market equities, we are driving a lot of conversations in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) as well,' he said. 'Iff anything, the last (few months) taught you that you cannot rely on one country as your end market and you cannot depend on one location as your manufacturing.' Asean-China growth For CGSI, Saw sees the biggest opportunities from the growth of China-Asean business relations. He noted that the securities company has a unique position – it has been present in South-east Asia for decades, yet its parent company is Chinese state-owned brokerage and investment bank China Galaxy Securities. 'Because we are state owned, (Chinese companies) are even more comfortable to work with us to share information and their strategy,' he said. Nevertheless, Saw said the firm services 'anyone that comes into South-east Asia' – around 90 per cent of its revenue from IPOs today are still intra-Asean. 'We are just starting this journey of people wanting to come to South-east Asia in a more aggressive manner, and there's a lot of sectors that require investments and have growth opportunities,' he said. In the past two years, CGSI has obtained investment banking business licenses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand – allowing it to participate in activities including IPOs, corporate financing and fundraising. Saw expects China flows will have a greater part to play in the business in the years ahead, given that most deals need time to progress. 'I'm quite excited about the future…because there are deals that we're trying to do now, and if they materialise, that fits into the Asean-China (trend) that we are seeing.'
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
Asia: Stocks track Wall Street up after jobs data, Seoul surges on Lee win
[HONG KONG] Asian shares extended a global rise on Wednesday following data indicating the US economy remained resilient, with South Korean equities and the won standing out as the election of a new president ended months of political paralysis. Speculation that US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will speak this week stoked optimism for a soothing of trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. However, Trump's ramped-up tariffs on aluminium and steel imports - announced on Friday - are due to kick in later Wednesday, highlighting the uncertainty caused by the White House's off-the-cuff policies. Traders in Asia took the baton from a positive Wall Street, where all three main indexes were lifted by data showing US job openings unexpectedly rose in April, calming worries about the impact of Trump's tariff blitz on the world's number one economy. The reading came ahead of crucial non-farm payrolls figures on Friday, which are closely followed by the US Federal Reserve as it maps monetary policy in light of weak growth and fears of tariff-fuelled inflation. 'Growth is sputtering, the second half looks increasingly cloudy, and everyone knows the Fed's rate-cut cavalry will ride in eventually. It's already priced, already scripted - no one's shocked by the plot twist unless, of course, inflation proves stickier than expected,' said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'But what's genuinely keeping equities ticking higher is the soft hum of hope - that US-China tensions could thaw into something warmer than their current frosty detente,' Innes said. He added that the risk of tariffs, 'once a terrifying monster, now looks more like a toothless terrier's wag, comforting investors enough to hold their ground despite the global economy's chills'. Traders are awaiting further developments on the China-US front after White House officials said the two nations' leaders could talk this week, even after Trump accused Beijing of violating last month's detente that slashed tit-for-tat tariffs. News that eurozone inflation had eased in May to its lowest level in eight months - and slipped back below the European Central Bank's two-per cent target - added to the upbeat mood. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta all rose. Seoul rallied more than two per cent - pushing into a bull market after rising more than 20 percent from its recent low - as Lee Jae Myung won South Korea's snap presidential election. The won gained around 0.3 per cent. The poll was called after the impeachment of predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol over his brief martial law attempt and ended six months of political turmoil in the country. It has also raised hopes that Lee will introduce fresh measures to boost the export-dependent economy, which faces a hefty hit from Trump's tariffs, particularly the huge levies on steel and aluminium. In his inauguration speech on Wednesday, the new president warned protectionism posed a threat to the country's 'survival'. On the campaign trail, Lee said Seoul needed to start tariff negotiations with Washington 'immediately' but also stressed there was no need to 'rush' a deal. AFP
