Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement

Introduction

Euroclear is committed to preventing acts of modern slavery and human trafficking from occurring within both its business and supply chains.

References in this statement to “Euroclear,” “we” and “our” are references to Euroclear SA/NV and its subsidiaries.

We have always been resolute in our commitment to serving the public good by providing secure and efficient infrastructure for the financial markets.

Our Environment/Social/Governance (ESG) mission is to support and enable a sustainable financial marketplace, while limiting our impact on the environment, providing an equitable and inclusive workplace and conducting business in an ethical and responsible way. Behaving as responsible citizen in the markets in which we operate is fundamental to our business, and something we care about deeply as evidenced in our Sustainability Report ‘Our Responsibility’ and on our website.

Our modern slavery and human trafficking statement reflects our ongoing commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships. We will continue to improve our practices, benchmarking ourselves against peers and ensuring our systems and controls to safeguard us against any form of modern slavery or human trafficking remain effective.  

Our organisation structure

As a global Financial Market Infrastructure, we provide settlement and related securities services for transactions involving domestic and international bonds, equities, derivatives and investment funds. We offer clients a single access point to post-trade services covering domestic securities from over 40 markets.

For further details please visit our Euroclear structure page.

Our business

As a global Financial Market Infrastructure, we provide settlement and related securities services for transactions involving domestic and international bonds, equities, derivatives and investment funds. We offer clients a single access point to post-trade services covering domestic securities from over 40 markets.

For further details please visit our Euroclear business page

Governance and policy

We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity. Our governance framework and related corporate policies like our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, our Speak-up policy and our dedicated trainings on Ethics reflect this and empower our employees to report and escalate any concerns of unethical conduct, whether relating to concern about modern slavery and human trafficking or other matters.

We have developed a Supplier Code of Business Conduct which clearly states our expectations towards our suppliers to act ethically and with integrity in their business dealings and relationships and to implement and enforce effective controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place in their businesses and supply chains. It also describes Euroclear’s commitments regarding health and safety, harassment and discrimination, worker rights, social responsibility and other responsible business practices.  

Due diligence

As part of our supply chain process, Euroclear undertakes due diligence on all new suppliers. We regularly review both critical service providers and material outsourcing providers, contemplating a wide range of risks including modern slavery.

As part of our continued drive to improve our oversight of supplier relationships, we have reviewed and reinforced our suppliers due diligence questionnaire to expand, amongst other, our focus on human rights for suppliers active in risky countries and risky sectors from a modern slavery point of view.

As set out above, we seek to ensure that our suppliers adhere to Euroclear policies and ethical standards and would not tolerate slavery and human trafficking within our supply chain.

Risk and compliance

We have evaluated the nature and extent of our exposure to the risk of modern slavery occurring in our supply chain, to ensure that our standards are respected.

We do not consider that Euroclear currently operates in high-risk sectors for modern slavery; however, our commitment to address this potential risk will continue.

Training

We acknowledge that educating our staff is fundamental to ensuring that potential human rights and modern slavery risks are identified and managed.

Euroclear’s current onboarding and refresher training for all staff aims at ensuring that they understand all of the provisions of our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct in order to contribute to an ethical culture with the highest standards and to conducting business in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

Euroclear has also developed a specific training on the Modern Slavery Act for those staff most in contact with suppliers focusing on the recognition of the signs of modern slavery and the reporting of any concerns. 

Sign off

This statement is made in accordance with Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of the United Kingdom and constitutes Euroclear’s (as defined above) slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year commencing 1 January 2022 and ending 31 December 2022.

This statement was approved by the Euroclear SA/NV board of directors on 18th July 2023. 

Signed by
Lieve Mostrey
Chief Executive Officer
Euroclear SA/NV