European regulators have granted equivalence to ten clearing houses operating in the Asia Pacific region allowing them to provide clearing services to the EU.
The European Securities and Markets Authority recognised central counterparties from Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Australia as the first institutions outside of Europe to comply with its rules.
Those clearing houses include ones runs by the Australian Securities Exchange, Singapore Exchange and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.
After reviewing the jurisdictions which each CCP was based in, the European Commission declared them as equivalent to European clearing rules.
Equivalence has still not been granted to US CCPs in a long-running standoff between European and US regulators.
If Europe doesn’t recognise US CCPs by June this year, it will have to delay new capital requirement rules again, as it did in December 2014.
This is because the cost of trading and clearing through US CCPs would rise substantially if they were not deemed as having equivalent standards to Europe.