Portuguese derivatives products have been migrated successfully on to the LIFFE CONNECT trading platform and CLEARING 21 (C21) clearing system owned by LCH.Clearnet. This implementation marks the end of the C21 migration to all the Euronext cash and derivatives markets.
“We are delighted to connect our Portuguese clearing members to CLEARING 21,” says Patrice Renault, Chief Executive of LCH.Clearnet SA. “Transferring Portuguese derivatives products to our clearing system offers Portuguese customers a cheaper and direct access to Dutch, French and Belgian derivatives products. In addition, Portuguese derivatives benefit from a wider exposure and visibility to European and international investors”.
C21 provides Portuguese derivatives clearing members with a real-time clearing and netting process. The former post-market overnight batch process required customers to wait until the next morning to check their cleared positions. “From an operational point of view, the main advantage for us as a Clearing Member is the harmonization of Derivatives and Cash Clearing systems on an unique platform,” says Andr Braz from Banco Santander de Negcios Portugal.
“The facility to perform posting/give-up/take-up actions automatically using C21 messages and our middle office system is a huge improvement. Segregation between execution and clearing functions is a great improvement on the system previously used in Portugal.”
LCH.Clearnet says operating a single clearing system on the Belgian, Dutch, French and Portuguese cash and derivatives market enables clearing customers to optimise their post-trading organisation. Because these markets share the same technology, clearing members are able to offer cross-border services, and provide customers with greater choice.