Clearstream Banking S.A. (CB) is the custody and settlement division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg.
It was created in January 2000 through the merger of Cedel International and Deutsche Börse Clearing, part of the Deutsche Börse Group, which owns the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Cedel, established in 1971, specialized in clearance and settlement. In 1996 it obtained a bank license. In July 2002 Deutsche Börse purchased the remaining 50% of Clearstream International for €1.6 billion. Deutsche Börse's strategy is to be a vertical securities silo, providing facilities for the front and back ends of securities trading. In 2008 Clearstream contributed €489 million to Deutsche Börse's total Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) of €1,5 billion. It handled 114 million transactions, and was custodian of securities worth €10,600 trillion (Deutsche Boerse Annual Report, 2008).
