EADaily, December 17th, 2025. The rating agency Fitch Ratings has placed the Belgian Euroclear Bank on the Rating Watch Negative list ("rating under supervision with negative expectations") due to the growth of legal and liquidity risks against the background of EU plans to use frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia for a "reparations loan" to Ukraine.

Most people outside of banking won't have heard of Euroclear. It's a Brussels-based settlement provider that enables the transfer of ownership of securities between seller and buyer. The firm is the focal point of a major geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the European Union.