- ABN Amro Clearing becomes active participant of Cboe Clear Europe’s new securities financing transactions (SFT) clearing service
- Demonstrates continued expansion of SFT service among range of participants, including principal lenders, agent lenders and the borrower community
- This first-of-its-kind service has been introduced to meet strong client demand for central clearing of SFTs, enhancing capital efficiencies amid evolving regulatory requirements
Cboe Clear Europe announced that ABN Amro Clearing has become an active participant of its securities financing transactions clearing service, acting in the capacity of a borrower.
By leveraging this service, ABN Amro Clearing is benefitting from a first-of-its-kind centrally cleared model for SFT transactions, enhancing the capital efficiencies associated with activities such as securities lending and supporting the growth of this key market. The introduction of central clearing to this market is particularly important given the increased regulatory, capital and operational burdens associated with SFTs resulting from the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR), Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR), and planned Basel IV implementation.
Jan Treuren, SFT Product lead at Cboe Clear Europe, said in a statement: “Our goal is to bring significant capital and operational efficiencies to this key market by leveraging our infrastructure, technology, and pan-European cash equities footprint. We continue to actively onboard new participants from across the community, including principal lenders, agent lenders acting on behalf of special participant lenders (UCITS and non-UCITS beneficial owners), and borrowers.”
Coen van Walbeek, global head of Treasury and Securities Finance at ABN Amro Clearing, said in a statement: “We are proud to support Cboe Clear Europe’s innovative new service for European SFTs, which aligns with our dedication to improving the efficiency of Europe’s post-trade market.”
Cboe Clear Europe launched its SFT service in March with Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking acting as principal lender against JP Morgan as a borrower as part of the first trades cleared through the new service.
Cboe Clear Europe is offering central clearing, settlement and post-trade lifecycle management of European SFTs in cash equities and ETFs. This service is available to principal lenders, special participant lenders (UCITS and non-UCITS) and borrowers, with settlements conducted across 19 European Central Securities Depositories (CSDs).
The service also provides margin and operational advantages, including savings from cross-margining between cash equities and SFTs, greater settlement efficiencies, elimination of agent lender disclosures, and improved practices around fees management and corporate actions.