Central counterparty clearing (CCP) service partners of Nasdaq OMX Nordic – EMCF, EuroCCP and SIX x-clear have agreed to achieve interoperability by 29 January 2010.
Interoperability between the CCP parties allows members at NASDAQ OMX Nordic exchanges to interact with multiple clearing houses to clear and settle their trades.
Today NASDAQ OMX offers optional CCP on its Nordic markets through EMCF, and will on 9 October 2009, introduce mandatory CCP clearing (subject to regulatory approvals). In May 2009 NASDAQ OMX entered agreements with CCP clearing service providers SIX x-clear and EuroCCP in order to support a competitive clearing model on its Nordic markets.
The availability of CCP services from SIX x-clear and EuroCCP on NASDAQ OMX Nordic markets, on 29 January is conditional on FSA approval of Interoperability Agreements between EMCF and SIX x-clear and EuroCCP.
“We are enthusiastic about the determination among our CCP partners to accomplish interoperability and we are confident that a competitive CCP model will act to drive liquidity and lower investor costs,” says Hans-Ole Jochumsen, president of NASDAQ OMX Nordic. “This agreed-upon timeline will allow NASDAQ OMX Nordic to go from bilateral to competitive clearing in only 16 months, making us the first regulated market to offer CCP with a choice of three different service providers.”
“We look forward to offering the Nordic community a true interoperability model with three CCP’s involved,” says Jan Booij, chief executive officer of EMCF. “This initiative can truly be seen as a milestone in Europe since the implementation of MIFiD and we trust it will encourage other European Exchanges to offer a similar model to their members.”
“We will continue to work with NASDAQ OMX and the other partners to create choice of CCP’s in the Nordic market and allow a pain-free transition for members that wish to change CCP service provider,” says Marco Strimer, chief executive office of SIX x-clear. “We look forward to helping the market grow through our role of CCP for risk management, efficiency and innovation.”
“EuroCCP is pleased to be moving forward with NASDAQ OMX and fellow clearing firms EMCF and SIX x-clear to establish CCP interoperability in the Nordic markets,” says Diana Chan, chief executive officer of EuroCCP. “NASDAQ OMX Nordic clients will benefit from having a truly competitive choice of clearers, and EuroCCP looks forward to helping to deliver this important initiative.”
L.D.