Portuguese derivatives products have migrated successfully to the LIFFE CONNECT trading platform and CLEARING 21 (C21) clearing system, LCH.Clearnet, SA said today.
This shift marks the end of the CLEARING 21 migration to all the Euronext cash and derivatives markets, LCH added.
“We are delighted to connect our Portuguese clearing members to CLEARING 21,” said Patrice Renault, Chief Executive of LCH.Clearnet SA, the leading independent central counterparty (CCP) group in Europe. “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.
Operating a single clearing system on the Belgian, Dutch, French, and Portuguese cash and derivatives market enables clearing customers to optimize 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, said a spokesperson for LCH.Clearnet.
“From an operational point of view, the main advantage for us as a Clearing Member is the harmonisation of Derivatives and Cash Clearing systems on a unique platform,” said Andre Braz, of Banco Santander de Negocios 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.”