Markit, a leading, global financial information services company today announced that ASX Clear (Futures), the futures clearing facility operated by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), is now connected to MarkitSERV's global network of clearinghouses for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.
On September 12th, ASX announced that an interest rate swap between Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Deutsche Bank was the first trade to clear using the service. Both banks used MarkitSERV to confirm and submit the trade to ASX. The MarkitSERV network also enabled both parties to receive real time trade status notifications from ASX.
Peter Hiom, Deputy CEO at ASX, said: "MarkitSERV's expertise in OTC affirmation and messaging was important in the design of our OTC Derivatives Clearing Service. With much of our client base already using MarkitSERV, it was relatively straightforward for the industry to establish and maintain a connection to ASX's clearing house. ASX's new OTC Derivatives Clearing Service will benefit Australian asset managers who are seeking to retain their collateral onshore and access the capital efficiency of clearing OTC and exchange traded derivatives together."
Henry Hunter, managing director and head of product development at MarkitSERV, said: "Providing the connection to ASX underscores our commitment to supporting clearing in the Asia Pacific region. As more jurisdictions require central clearing of OTC derivatives, our middleware service will help the industry to remain efficient by providing an integrated solution for pre trade clearing certainty, regulatory reporting and clearing."
MarkitSERV's derivatives middleware service reduces operational risk and improves efficiency throughout the global derivatives markets. MarkitSERV provides comprehensive trade processing services for interest rate, credit, equity and foreign exchange derivatives as well as venue neutral connections that link more than 2,500 market participants to 14 CCPs worldwide.