Deutsche Börse is to reduce the cost of clearing on its Eurex Clearing platform for equity transactions on Xetra and Xetra Frankfurt Specialist. From 1 July, the volume-dependent clearing fee will fall by 0.02 basis points for all participants – saving customers up to 20% of total clearing fees, according to the exchange group.
Following the new pricing model, the volume-dependent fee will be 0.0008% for Xetra Frankfurt Specialist trading and between 0.0008 and 0.0003% in fully electronic Xetra trading, depending on monthly turnover volume.
“The reduced pricing model in equities clearing is welcome,” said Andrew Bowley, head of electronic trading product management at Nomura. “However, we would prefer to see full interoperability, as at present, there is no way to offset risk and margins or get full pricing efficiency when trading in Germany across venues. Interoperability would offer a considerably more efficient model.”
Deutsche Börse is currently carrying out its own analysis on interoperability. So far, the exchange’s investigation has determined interoperability may have potential positive effects for the exchange as well as for the member community, provided central counterparties (CCPs) have adequate risk standards in place. But the exchange group has also noted certain members may face increased costs from additional collateral requirements.
The exchange is weighing up proposed European regulation on clearing before making a final decision. In March, Nasdaq OMX said it had postponed its own interoperability plans due to uncertainty surrounding interoperability requirements from regulators and industry groups.