ABN AMRO Clearing

ABN AMRO Clearing seamlessly manages settlement risk in stressed markets with Tableau


Ability to monitor and analyse over 40,000 settlements per day at peak, with ease

Access to accurate, real-time data reduces risk and improves customer service

Secure, automated data monitoring allows proactive settlement management in minutes instead of hours

Speed. High volume transactions. Security and compliance. These are the key challenges faced by clearing banks around the world.

Consistently ranked amongst the top three clearers in every time zone, ABN AMRO Clearing processes more than 16 million trades per day and up to 46 million trades on peak days, across 90 of the world’s leading exchanges. With 10 offices globally, and over 800 employees, the company is one of the world’s leading providers of clearing and financing services for listed derivatives and cash securities.

ABN AMRO Clearing wanted secure access to accurate data in order to monitor the settlement process with the clarity and confidence that contributes to safe, transparent global markets.

Here, the bank reveals how analysing counterparty risk in real-time with Tableau has improved speed, agility, and reduced risk - even when recent settlement demand grew to three times more than the daily average, due to market volatility.

For ABN AMRO Clearing it is essential to monitor our settlement risk in real-time.

Reducing risk in real-time, with trusted data

Counterparty settlement risk – the risk that one of the participants may fail to meet their settlement obligations on a trade – is inherent to the bank’s business and requires close oversight.

“For ABN AMRO Clearing it is essential to monitor our settlement risk in real-time,” says Monique Verhoef, Chief Operations Officer in Europe. “Our aim is to make sure huge volumes of transactions all settle in time, on the intended settlement date. Late settlements can have a negative impact on our liquidity forecasts, particularly in busy markets. We aim to reduce our overall exposure on counterparties, and to contribute to the efficient functioning of financial markets as a whole.”

Previously, this liquidity verification for failed settlements was labour intensive and time consuming. Fragmented datasets from different source systems made it difficult to make well-informed decisions and act accordingly. Now, using Tableau, teams across the bank can explore their data securely, and act on the insights gained with speed and clarity. Trusted, real-time data is at the heart of every decision.

In the blink of an eye we spot bottlenecks in the settlement process and can focus on proactively monitoring unmatched, unsettled transactions in our clients’ accounts, to support our clients when they need it the most.

Getting insights in minutes instead of hours

When a settlement instruction enters the system, employees can follow it through to settlement, visually tracking and analysing every feature - from transaction type and fees, to the originating market. On occasion, when manual intervention is needed, Tableau provides fast, informed insight into the issue so employees can take action to resolve it proactively.

“Efficient monitoring through Tableau allows reliable protection of our liquidity position, which is most important when markets are under stress,” says Roos Janssen, Head of Client Operations. “In the blink of an eye we spot bottlenecks in the settlement process and can focus on proactively monitoring unmatched, unsettled transactions in our clients’ accounts, to support our clients when they need it the most.”

According to Rowan Preesman, Product Owner Data Analytics, this agility has significantly improved the timely settlement rate. “In the past, we spent hours analysing data downloads to locate large problematic settlements, which was very time consuming and not always accurate. Using Tableau, real-time dashboards allow us to instantly identify unmatched and failed settlements. This pace plays a vital role in reducing counterparty risk and improving the client experience.”

Using Tableau, real-time dashboards allow us to instantly identify unmatched and failed settlements. This pace plays a vital role in reducing counterparty risk and improving the client experience.

“Managing settlement risk seamlessly, even in stressed markets”

Using Tableau allowed ABN AMRO Clearing to act quickly and decisively during the Covid-19 pandemic, when market volatility contributed to unprecedented settlement activity. March 2020 was the busiest month ever for ABN AMRO Clearing, with more trades processed that month than in an average quarter in 2019. The peak day volume was approximately 46 million trades per day, processed in our core systems, generating more than 40,000 settlements per day – more than double the busiest day up to that date.

With Tableau’s help, ABN AMRO Clearing rose to the challenge. Roos explains. “In such a stretched situation, it is of paramount importance to have instant availability to accurate, real-time information. As a clearing firm, we guarantee our clients’ trades towards the financial infrastructure. Tableau allows us to manage settlement risk seamlessly even in stressed markets, and a lot more efficiently than before”.