From September 2009 the SmartPool product universe will be expanded to include all constituents of the following five mid-capitalisation indices:
FTSE 250 (UK)
FTSE Italia Mid Cap (Italy)
Mid cap constituents of the Dow Jones STOXX 600
MDAX (Germany)
SMIM (Switzerland)
Trades in these securities will be cleared via LCH.Clearnet for Euronext listed stocks and EuroCCP for all other European markets. The existing blue chip range of securities will also be extended to reflect the indices of the 15 European equity markets traded on SmartPool, including securities listed on the 4 NYSE Euronext markets.
The SmartPool value proposition is especially relevant for transactions in securities where liquidity is scarce and implicit execution costs tend to be higher. Our expansion into offering mid-caps across Europe will be of great value to customers who wish to trade less liquid securities in a non-displayed environment, says Lee Hodgkinson, CEO of SmartPool.
With activity on the SmartPool platform in the second quarter of 2009 increasing by over 90%, todays announcement further illustrates the depth and breadth of liquidity available on SmartPool.
EuroCCP supports the expansion of SmartPool into this market segment. The use of EuroCCP clearing services further extends benefits of netting across Europe for SmartPool members, whilst providing strong risk mitigation in these less-liquid securities, says Diana Chan, CEO of EuroCCP.
We are delighted to support SmartPools expansion by providing our expertise in clearing services for a wider product range to market participants, and to provide our members with the benefits of offsetting risk and settlement levels between SmartPool and NYSE Euronext markets, says Christophe Hmon, chief executive, LCH.Clearnet SA.
L.D.