European Central Counterparty Limited (EuroCCP) - the pan-European arm of US depository DTCC - is expected to launch on Friday with 15 firms having gained approval as clearing participants, including the nine founding members of Turquoise and six other firms.
Of the 15 firms, six will be general clearing participants who will be able to clear and settle trades for about 35 trading firms who are not participants of EuroCCP. The others are individual clearing participants who only clear and settle trades they execute.
In July, EuroCCP completed the final stages of testing with the Turquoise trading platform and a number of participant firms prior to a limited trading that will begin on 15 August. By 5 September, when the Turquoise trading platform is scheduled to go live in full production, EuroCCP expects to be clearing and settling trades in 1300 equity issues across 13 European markets in seven different currencies. Ultimately, EuroCCP expects to provide clearing and settlement services in more than 20 separate markets in Europe.
EuroCCP is promising to slash clearing costs for firms trading over the new breed of execution venues gearing up for launch in Europe. In July, the depository claimed trading houses could save up to EUR350 million a year if EuroCCP was used as a central clearing house for all European trades.
Diana Chan, chief executive officer of EuroCCP, says: "Since the European authorities announced their intention to allow new entrants for trading and clearing securities, established markets and central counterparties have slashed their fee structures-and more can be expected.
"We are committed to leading the way by being the low-cost, pan-European clearing and settlement provider to multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) as well as exchanges."
She says the firm will announce additional individual and general clearing participants in the coming weeks as they complete the requirements for participation.