Eurex Repo, the electronic repo market owned by Eurex, saw average outstanding volumes reach a new peak of more than € 93 billion at the end of November, beating the figure recorded at the beginning of the year by 18 per cent.
The Euro repo market saw particularly strong growth during this period, says Eurex. With a daily outstanding volume of over € 55 billion, the market set a new record in November, up by nearly 80 per cent on the start of the year.
In addition, ten new participants were admitted to the Euro repo market in 2006, including 7 international institutions. This brought the total number of participating institutions to 45. Average outstanding volume on the CHF repo market totaled CHF 63.7 billion (€ 42.5 billion) in November.
Eurex says Euro GC Pooling, which was launched in March 2005, has played a key role in the success of the Euro repo market. This product, which is being enhanced in conjunction with Clearstream Banking Luxembourg and Eurex Clearing, will enable assets held in custody with Clearstream Luxembourg to be available for Euro GC Pooling from mid-2007 onwards. The new service is aimed primarily at international participants who use Clearstream Luxembourg as custodian for their securities.
Eurex Repo also expanded its product range on the Euro repo market by adding new baskets of European government and corporate bonds in the middle of December. Eurex says this is the first time that corporate bonds have been available as collateral in electronic repo trading using a central counterparty.
The implementation of the Basel II guidelines into national law in 2007 means that the financial industry expects to see an increased demand for collateralized financing alternatives, a development which is likely to benefit repo trading on the Eurex Repo markets.
The Eurex CHF Repo Market was launched in 1999, and the Euro Repo Market followed in 2001. 180 participants from 9 countries are currently admitted to trading on Eurex’s repo markets. Eurex Repo is a 100% subsidiary of Eurex.