Swiss-German derivatives exchange Eurex will 'immediately' roll out phase one of its transatlantic clearing link, which was approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission last week.
The clearing link will enable US traders dealing on Eurex Deutschland to clear transactions through Chicago-based Clearing Corporation, allowing them to consolidate their positions and collateral in a single clearing account.
Eurex says the move will lower the cost of access to the Frankfurt-based exchange from the US and reduce costs through margin offsets and collateral pooling between USD- and EUR-denominated products.
Rudolf Ferscha, CEO of Eurex, says: "With the Global Clearing Link we are connecting the US and European derivative markets and offering clearing choice for the first time."
Clearing Corporation says the link will allow it to extend its own business internationally, thereby expanding client access and increasing market efficiency.
In phase two of the link, Eurex Clearing members will be able to clear USD and EUR benchmark products traded at Eurex US, and use one common collateral pool to portfolio-margin European and US products. Implementation of phase two is still subject to regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and European regulators.