Clearstream Banking S.A. (CBL) And Clearstream Banking AG (CBF)

The stable outlooks on CBL and CBF reflect our view that the Clearstream group's intrinsic creditworthiness will remain robust over the next two years. We expect to continue assessing Clearstream as an insulated subgroup of DB1 and therefore would affirm the ratings on CBL and CBF even if we lowered our ratings on DB1 by one notch. The outlook also reflects our expectation that Clearstream will maintain strong capitalization, a very low risk profile, and strong core earnings. We assume that Clearstream will issue debt to meet its minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) by 2023, but not to the extent that it would change our view of its cash flow or leverage. We could downgrade CBL

...Clearstream is central to the wider Deutsche Boerse AG group. Clearstream Banking S.A. (CBL) and Clearstream Banking AG (CBF) play a central role in the subgroup headed by Clearstream Holding AG (Clearstream) and the wider group headed by Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1), which owns Clearstream. The ratings are supported by our view of Clearstream's '##' group credit profile (GCP), which is underpinned by its crucial role in international financial markets, not least as the operator of one of the two leading international central securities depositories (ICSD). We expect Clearstream will report improved profitability in 2022 supported by higher contribution from net interest income, and supplemented by growth in custody revenue. Clearstream's profitability improved in 2022 in our view, strongly supported by higher net interest income, due to the rise in interest rates, and solid levels of fixed income issuance activity. In the first nine months of 2022 we saw Clearstream's revenue (as reported...

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