The European Central Bank (ECB) is set to expand its post-trade offering by joining both LCH RepoClear SA and Eurex’s centrally cleared repo market in Q1 2026.
Imène Rahmouni-Rousseau
The moves mark a diversification of the ECB’s securities lending infrastructure, and will see the bank transferring part of its securities lending activities on its monetary policy portfolios to centrally cleared repo transactions.
Additionally, as part of the offering, the ECB will become a direct member of RepoClear, through the Special Clearing Membership model, which facilitates the onboarding of a central clearing counterparty (CCP) for central banks, supranationals and agencies.
Imène Rahmouni-Rousseau, director general of market operations at the ECB, said: “The trend towards central clearing for repo transactions supports the smooth functioning and the resilience of euro area repo markets. These markets play a crucial role for the transmission of our monetary policy and the redistribution of liquidity in the financial system.
“Central clearing will diversify our securities lending channels for monetary policy portfolios and will also contribute to broadening our existing market intelligence in this core segment.”
The addition of ECB also makes it the sixth central bank to connect to Eurex’s repo ecosystem, joining more than 160 other participants from 21 different countries.
“We are honoured to welcome the European Central Bank to our repo market,” said Matthias Graulich, chief commercial officer and global head of products and markets at Eurex.
“The ECB’s decision underscores the growing importance of centrally cleared repo for the stability and integrity of European financial markets and is a strong testament to the market’s trust in our resilient and efficient infrastructure.”