Nyse Euronext subsidiary SecFinex has commissioned SIS x-clear to develop a central counterparty service for stock borrowing and lending across the SecFinex Order Market.
The agreement will cover stock loan transactions in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The service will be extended to additional European markets after the first phase goes live in Q2 2009.
News of the deal follows a previous SecFinex announcement on the introduction of CCP for equity finance in Euronext markets in Belgium, France, Holland and Portugal, and comes a day after Deutsche Börse Group subsidiaries Eurex Clearing and Clearstream Banking Luxembourg announced plans for the introduction of a securities lending CCP next year.
Peter Fenichel, CEO of SecFinex says the introduction of the CCP will eliminate bi-lateral credit risk between lender and borrower and will significantly reduce the capital required to support stock loan transactions. This in turn is expected to lead to increased market volumes as participants access more markets and new counterparties.
Says Fenichel: "We believe the SecFinex marketplace, linked to SIX x-clear, will provide our clients with significant advantages that will serve to reduce capital requirements, lower risk for borrowers and lenders and broaden participation in current difficult markets."