Citibank Global Securities Services today announced its appointment as settlement and clearing agent to TRADINGLAB, UniCredito Italiano’s retail investment bank for the new covered warrants market in the UK. The London Stock Exchange launched the covered warrants market today.
“Entering the new UK covered warrants market is an important part of our strategy in the UK,” explains Gian Luigi Pedemonte, TRADINGLAB’s Senior Vice-President, Market Management Europe. “It was essential that we selected a settlement and clearing agent with a reputation for expertise and accountability – as well as commitment – in this business activity. We are therefore delighted to be working with Citibank and look forward to them helping us deliver best-in-class services in the UK covered warrants market.”
Guilio Di Cerbo, Sales Director of Citibank’s Global Securities Services for Intermediaries, adds: “We’re very pleased to be delivering this service in the UK market for TRADINGLAB, whose continuous achievements for services and ongoing innovation have gained them a deserved reputation across several geographies. The appointment also enables us to leverage our extensive experience in the servicing of warrants throughout many other European countries.”
Citibank says the last decade has seen covered warrants become a mainstay of sophisticated retail and institutional investors’ portfolio strategies. “It is now an integral part of the European markets, and the London Stock Exchange aims to replicate this success in the UK,” says the bank. “The settlement of trades in covered warrants has been a standard feature of Citibank Global Securities Services for many years.”
TRADINGLAB is the investment bank of UniCredito Italiano, which specialises in conceiving and structuring innovative financial products such as covered warrants specifically for the investing public. It is wholly owned and guaranteed by Unicredito Italiano. TRADINGLAB is number two in covered warrants in Europe with over 5.5 billion intermediated in 2001. The bank also provides free information and risk management services for investors, such as KILOVAR a universal tool that enables users to evaluate global risk position for any financial asset ranking risk from 0 to 1000.