Banca IMI has signed up as a clearing member for credit default swaps at LCH CDSClear, making it the first Italian clearing member to join the service.
The move means that the investment bank of Intesa Sanpaolo Group now has access to clearing of credit derivatives referencing single names and indices, and will also act as a clearing broker for clearing credit default swaps for its client base.
“Joining CDSClear means that Banca IMI and our clients can benefit from LCH’s robust risk management across a wide range of credit derivatives,” said Massimo Mocio, general manager of Banca IMI. “Clearing enables us to mitigate counterparty risk as well as benefit from the capital and operational efficiencies associated with clearing.”
Banca IMI is already a clearing member for LCH EquityClear and RepoClear, but the extension of its membership to CDSClear means it will achieve greater margin efficiencies through the portfolio margining of offsetting positions cleared at LCH, the clearinghouse said in a statement.
“I’m delighted to welcome Banca IMI as CDSClear’s first Italian clearing member, marking an important stage in our growth,” Frank Soussan, global head of CDSClear, added. “During 2018, we significantly grew our client clearing business in Europe, as well as processing record volumes of cleared notional, and we look forward to continuing to extend our clearing membership and activity during the course of 2019.”
Earlier this month, LCH implemented three workflow automation solutions from software provider genesis across its FX, swaps and credit default swaps clearing lines to support its growth plans. LCH worked alongside genesis to build a suite of complementary services, including member and client web portals for SwapClear, and a CDS option electronic exercise platform for CDSClear.