More or Less Could Europe use its financial muscle to strong-arm the US?
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Jan 31, 2026 
Toby Nangle, Financial Times markets and data journalist, breaks down Europe’s holdings of US shares and bonds. He explains the headline $12.6 trillion number, how custodial holdings differ from European ownership, and what portion is US government debt. Then he explores whether selling assets could sway US policy and why such moves could hurt both sides.
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Scale Of European Holdings In US Assets
- Around $12.6 trillion of US shares and bonds are held in European NATO countries, which sounds large but is only about 10% of US financial assets.
- That share falls further once holdings held in Europe on behalf of non-Europeans are stripped out.
Headline Numbers Contain Significant Noise
- Much of the $12.6 trillion figure reflects assets held in Europe by non-Europeans or via custodians and asset managers.
- Deutsche Bank estimates stripping out that 'noise' could cut the effective figure to roughly $1 trillion.
How Sales Would Hurt The US Economy
- Selling large amounts of US shares would push prices down and hit US wealth broadly.
- Selling US government bonds would raise yields and make government borrowing much more expensive.