Quadriserv, a North American provider of securities lending services, and Eurex Clearing, the post-trade division of European derivatives exchange Eurex, have joined forces to provide central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services for securities lending of European equities. Eurex Clearing will provide its CCP services to Quadriserv’s new securities lending platform, AQS.
The partnership will initially create services for trading, clearing and settlement in UK, German and Swiss equities. Eurex Clearing, as central clearing provider, will mitigate counterparty risk and facilitate settlement processing for all clearing members. AQS will provide automated trading and middle-office functionality to facilitate centralised, anonymous borrowing and lending activity. The integration will allow Eurex Clearing’s European customers to access the AQS platform.
“The steady progress towards a centralised, structured
marketplace for securities lending continues unabated, and we firmly believe that the AQS securities lending platform has become an important part of this evolving landscape,” said Thomas J. Perna, CEO, Quadriserv, in a statement. “We are pleased to complement our US capabilities with the addition of our Eurex partnership, which greatly expands the reach and distribution of our AQS platform to European markets.”
Thomas Book, member of the Eurex executive board responsible for clearing, added, “The combination of the AQS platform and our securities lending offering highlights Eurex Clearing’s role in creating a European market standard.”
The partnership furthers the expansion of Eurex Clearing’s CCP services into securities lending. In November, the firm announced plans to launch a securities lending clearing service in partnership with post-trade provider Clearstream in Q2 2009.