Clearnet, the CCP whose ownership is shared by Euronext (80%) and Euroclear (20%), announced today that its CLEARING 21 platform had been successfully implemented as the new clearing technology for the cash markets in Amsterdam from Friday of last week.
It follows the successful implementation of an updated version of Clearing21 for the cash market in Paris on February 22, 2002 and in Brussels on March 8, 2002. Clearing21 will eventually be used by all Euronext cash and derivative markets in Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon and Paris.
“The migration of the participants in Amsterdam to CLEARING 21 is a new step in the move to a single clearing platform for all Clearnet members,” says the Paris-based CCP. “It is a major milestone in the achievement of the technical integration of Euronext, which will be fulfilled for the clearing of all Euronext cash products on 11 July 2003 after the implementation of CLEARING 21 in Lisbon.”
Clearing 21 aims to enable clearing members to harmonise their back-office infrastructure across the various Euronext markets by providing for a standard method of cross margining and real time multilateral netting of positions held on Euronext markets. This cuts indirect costs of members.
Interestingly, for those who thought rumours Clearnet was planning a horizontal merger with London Clearing House were true, Clearnet says the implementation of Clearing 21 in all Euronext markets is a prior step to the harmonisation of settlement and custody operations through Euronext’s preferred partner, Euroclear, which will ultimately facilitate Straight Through Processing for all Euronext cash products. That sounds like a vertical solution.