The National Bank of Canada (NBC) has acquired a 10% stake in electronic securities lending platform EquiLend from JP Morgan.
The deal was closed this month following clearance from UK, Canadian and Irish regulators. JP Morgan will continue to hold a 10% ownership interest in EquiLend.
NBC joins nine other global financial institutions as owners and members of the board of EquiLend, including Bank of America, BlackRock, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust, State Street and UBS.
“We are very excited to welcome National Bank of Canada to our ownership group and look forward to the firm’s insights as a member of our board of directors. NBC has long been a supporter of leading-edge technology and innovation in securities finance, so the firm is a natural fit as an owner of EquiLend,” said Brian Lamb, CEO EquiLend.
EquiLend stated the Canadian market is a key focus for the platform, given that the country is the world’s second-largest securities finance market by on-loan value, according to DataLend. It’s platform is also used by the all the major domestic securities finance market participants for trading, post-trade and market data services.
JP Morgan began its search to offload half of its EquiLend stake in the summer of last year, which opened bids from multiple firms including some vendors.