London, Friday 11th November 2011- Equiduct, one of the fastest growing Pan European trading venues, today announced that they are extending their activities to Italian stocks today, with clearing provided by LCH Clearnet Ltd.
LCH Clearnet Ltd already provides clearing for UK instruments traded on Equiduct, offering a seamless transition for existing and new clients to the Equiduct Italian board.
Equiduct has seen growth of 24% on last quarter (vs. Q2 2011) with particular growth in the French and Belgian markets; and is now offering its Best Execution services on the fragmented Italian market, of which more than 20% of trades are now traded on alternative trading platforms. The cost for final investors of trades on MIB40 stocks missing the best price amounts to 15.72M€ for the first 3 quarters of the year.
"Equiduct offers a unique service on stocks traded across several venues: we offer the Pan European best execution price via a single entry point. We are pleased that Equiduct's participants will benefit from the extension of our model on Italian names. I am particularly pleased that LCH Clearnet Ltd were so responsive and commercially flexible in offering this service. " says Peter Randall, CEO of Equiduct.
Wayne Eagle, director of LCH Clearnet Ltd commented "We are delighted to be working with Equiduct in Italy and to broaden and enhance our service. Market participants are looking for the efficiencies of scale and market leading risk management, both of which are offered by EquityClear"
About Equiduct
Equiduct Systems Limited is a technology and transactions services provider specialising in offering low latency market data and trading platform solutions. It provides Equiduct, the pan European trading platform, offering the highest likelihood of best execution for the retail market.
About LCH.Clearnet
LCH.Clearnet (then The London Produce Clearing House Limited) began clearing commodity futures in 1888. Today it is the leading independent clearinghouse group, serving major international exchanges and platforms, as well as a range of OTC markets. It clears a broad range of asset classes including: securities, exchange traded derivatives, energy, freight, interest rate swaps, credit default swaps and euro and sterling denominated bonds and repos; and works closely with market participants and exchanges to identify and develop clearing services for new asset classes. A clearinghouse sits in the middle of a trade, assuming the counterparty risk involved when two parties (or members) trade. When the trade is registered with a clearinghouse, it becomes the legal counterparty to the trade, ensuring the financial performance; if one of the parties fails, the clearinghouse steps in. By assuming the counterparty risk, the clearinghouse underpins many important financial markets, reducing risk, facilitating trading and increasing confidence within the market.
Initial and variation margin (both collateral) is collected from clearing members; should they fail, this margin is used to fulfill their obligations. The amount of margin is determined by the clearing house's highly experienced risk management teams, who assess a member's positions and market risk on a daily basis; in IRS, throughout the day. Both the soundness of the risk management approach and the resilience of its systems have been proven in recent times. LCH.Clearnet is regulated or overseen by the national securities regulator and/or central bank in each jurisdiction from which it operates including the FSA and CFTC.
Media Contact
Equiduct
Sophonie Robichon
sophonie.robichon@equiduct.com
Phone: + 44 (0)20 3595 1520
LCH Clearnet Ltd
Andrea Schlaepfer
Andrea.Schlaepfer@lchclearnet.com
Phone: +44 (0)207 426 7463
Rachael Harper
Rachael.Harper@lchclearnet.com
Phone: +44 (0)207 426 7175