EMCF, a company fully owned by Fortis, has made a further reduction in its clearing fees effective 1 March 2008.
This round of fee cuts is the most significant since EMCF commenced offering services in March 2007.
The fee cuts take into consideration both pre-emptive positioning in relation to the competitive responses of the incumbent Clearing Houses and recognise the success to date of EMCF and the ability to share these economies of scale with all participants.
Moreover, these fee reductions confirm EMCF’s market position as the lead instigator of cheaper clearing fees in Europe. Taking into account both the clearing and settlement fees, EMCF will remain considerably more than 50% cheaper than other European Clearing Houses.
After going live in March 2007, the total number of cleared Chi-X transactions has increased substantially. During this period other clearing houses have reacted by either reducing their fees or changing their fee structure. EMCF’s stated intent has always been to be responsive to market developments, as such EMCF has decided upon the following fee schedule: France Ђ 0.28 Ђ 0.19 -32%; Germany Ђ 0.20 + 0.075 bp Ђ 0.19 -32%; Netherlands Ђ 0.28 Ђ 0.19 -32%; and the United Kingdom Ђ 0.17 Ђ 0.15 -12%. The clearing fee in the Swiss market will remain unchanged.
“EMCF is determined to bring fair market prices to all participants in order to substantially grow the clearing business whilst at no point compromising its reliability as a central party in the evolving European market infrastructure. The non-exclusive partnership between EMCF and Chi-X continues to flourish based on the simple principles of price competition and quality of service. EMCF remains a committed business partner of Chi-X,” says Jan Booij, managing director, EMCF.
“As volumes on Chi-X have continued to grow, we have been impressed not only with EMCF’s capacities to clear these trades, but also the real savings they bring. We recognize the need to reduce the frictional cost of trading and the benefits this brings Chi-X participants. We would anticipate these fee reductions will continue to stimulate the modestly encouraging growth we have enjoyed to date and we support EMCF’s commitment to lowering prices,” adds Peter Randall, CEO, Chi-X Europe Limited.