Eurex Clearing has enhanced its over-the-counter (OTC) clearing offering. As of 1 July 2008, it will introduce a multilateral trade registration (MTR) facility and a new deal-based pricing structure for equity options.
The MTR allows brokers to enter block trades with one buyer or seller and multiple counterparties instead of entering separate bilateral block trades. Regardless of the number of partial executions, Eurex Clearing will charge only one price per deal.
Additionally, to encourage volume growth from the OTC
market, Eurex Clearing has reduced fee caps for large OTC block trades.
“The new functionalities and pricing make it even more attractive for bilateral OTC transactions to benefit from central risk management and straight-through processing through Eurex Clearing,” said Thomas Book, member of the executive board, clearing, Eurex, in a statement.
Michael Peters, member of the executive board, sales and marketing, Eurex, added, “We expect to see the trend towards central clearing in the large OTC market continuing and expect to attract additional volume for Eurex.”
Fee caps for block trades will be reduced to €200 for customer account transactions in all equity options as of 1 July 2008, a reduction of 50% for German, Swiss and Scandinavian equity options. To stimulate proprietary trading, fee caps for block trades on proprietary accounts are set even lower, at €100 for all equity options, giving a minimum reduction of 50% and a maximum of 75%.
Also as of 1 July 2008, fees for single stock futures will be reduced for on-exchange order book trading and entries of OTC transactions.
Fees for order book trading will be reduced for all single stock futures to €0.20 per contract. Currently, most single stock futures are priced at €0.30. Additionally, fee caps for block trades will be lowered to €200 for all single stock futures.
Eurex will also now operate under its own brand. The company believes the new Eurex Clearing brand emphasises the advantages of central clearing and the integrated business model of Eurex and Deutsche Börse. It adds that the branding will enable Eurex Clearing to better position its service offerings and innovations for its industry partners.