First Live Trade Executed on New Omgeo/EuroCCP Matching and Central Counterparty Service
New Combined Clearing Service Mitigates Counterparty Risk and Reduces Operational Costs for European Hedge Fund Managers and their Prime and Executing Brokers
BOSTON/NEW YORK/LONDON, October 18, 2010 – Omgeo and EuroCCP today announced that their new pan-European equities matching and central counterparty clearing (CCP) service for hedge fund transactions has executed a live trade with prime broker and executing broker, Credit Suisse, and hedge fund manager, Citadel. Credit Suisse and Citadel intend to continue to partner with Omgeo and EuroCCP to ensure that their interfaces become scalable and ready to be extended to a broader range of counterparties in the future.
The service allows executing brokers and prime brokers to clear hedge fund transactions, will streamline the processing flow and mitigate the counterparty risks associated with these types of institutional cash equities transactions.
The new processing solution combines Omgeo Central Trade ManagerSM (Omgeo CTM), which provides a fully automated matching service, and EuroCCP’s CCP service which clears and settles pan-European cash equity trades. The joint service initially covers 15 European markets and expects to be expanded to additional markets over time. Following the successful piloting of the solution and first live trade, the service will be gradually rolled out to hedge funds and their executing and prime brokers. It is also the intention to make the service available to institutional fund managers and their brokers in the future.
Hedge funds will access the service through Omgeo CTM and through their executing and prime brokers who are EuroCCP participants. These brokers will authorise locked-in trades and release them to EuroCCP, where the trades are novated, netted and routed to the relevant European central securities depository (CSD) for settlement on a netted basis.
Neil Martin, MD, Cash Securities Clearing & Settlement, Credit Suisse, said: “We are pleased to successfully test and execute a first live trade on this trade matching solution. Adding central counterparty netting to the trade processing flow between us and our clients enables us to reduce counterparty risk and improve operational efficiency.”
Todd Schroeder, Deputy Head of Global Operations at Omnium, an affiliate of Citadel, said: “Having access to the benefits of a CCP solution and the trade guarantee it provides is of great value to hedge funds and investment managers. The ability to provide efficient straight-through processing coupled with a greater degree of risk mitigation for our clients is of utmost importance to Citadel and having this new service available to us in the marketplace is a major step in effectively meeting those needs.”
Adding to this, Leigh Walters, Global Head of Sales, Omgeo, said: “Omgeo and EuroCCP have been working closely with an Industry User Group to develop the new processing solution. Now that the necessary links to Omgeo CTM and EuroCCP have been built and this new revolutionary trade matching and CCP solution has executed its first live trade, we anticipate further hedge funds and brokers to come on board in the ensuing months.”
Diana Chan, CEO of EuroCCP, said: “In today’s environment, settlement of hedge funds’ trades between their executing and prime brokers occurs bilaterally without any CCP trade guarantee, exposing these parties to counterparty risk.”
“By introducing a CCP in this settlement chain, our goal is to help substantially reduce this type of risk between trading parties while also providing them with added efficiencies by netting down the number of transactions that need to be settled in a fully automated process. We are pleased to be the first CCP, in partnership with Omgeo, to bring this groundbreaking new service to market.”
About OmgeoSM
Omgeo creates certainty in post-trade operations through the automation and timely confirmation of the economic details of trades executed between investment managers and broker dealers. Every day Omgeo enables an efficient community of more than 6,000 financial services clients in 46 countries to manage matching and exception handling of trade allocations, confirmations, and settlement instructions. Omgeo has also extended its trade lifecycle coverage to include counterparty risk management, which supports end-to-end collateralization and reconciliation across multiple asset classes. Leading organizations rely on Omgeo to help manage an increasingly complex investment industry by providing operational stability and solutions that complement the focus on profitability in an era of escalating trade volumes. Across borders, asset classes, and trade lifecycles, Omgeo is the global standard for operational efficiency across the investment industry. Formed in 2001, Omgeo is jointly owned by the DTCC and Thomson Reuters.
About EuroCCP
European Central Counterparty Limited (EuroCCP) is a UK-incorporated, FSA-regulated Recognised Clearing House. It is the European subsidiary of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and is headquartered in London. EuroCCP was formed to provide clearing and settlement services for a wide range of trading venues across Europe, offering the scale economies of the US market and risk management expertise to European market participants. It currently clears equity trades in 19 markets. EuroCCP has been appointed to provide central counterparty services by Turquoise, SmartPool, NYSE Arca Europe and Pipeline for equity trades. EuroCCP has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with NASDAQ OMX to provide clearing services for its exchanges in Copenhagen, Helsinki and Stockholm. Market participants can trade equities on any venue EuroCCP supports and have their transactions netted for settlement and/or margin purposes for the same security traded on the same day, thereby reducing costs and operational risks. For more information about EuroCCP, please visit www.euroccp.co.uk.
About DTCC
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), through its subsidiaries, provides clearance, settlement and information services for equities, corporate and municipal bonds, government and mortgage-backed securities, money market instruments and over-the-counter derivatives. In addition, DTCC is a leading processor of mutual funds and insurance transactions, linking funds and carriers with financial firms and third parties who market these products. DTCC's depository provides custody and asset servicing for more than 3.5 million securities issues from the United States and 110 other countries and territories, valued at $27.6 trillion. In 2008, DTCC settled more than $1.88 quadrillion in securities transactions. DTCC has operating facilities in multiple locations in the United States and overseas. For more information on DTCC, visit www.dtcc.com.
About Credit Suisse AG
Credit Suisse AG is one of the world's leading financial services providers and is part of the Credit Suisse group of companies (referred to here as 'Credit Suisse'). As an integrated bank, Credit Suisse offers clients its combined expertise in the areas of private banking, investment banking and asset management. Credit Suisse provides advisory services, comprehensive solutions and innovative products to companies, institutional clients and high-net-worth private clients globally, as well as to retail clients in Switzerland. Credit Suisse is headquartered in Zurich and operates in over 50 countries worldwide. The group employs approximately 48,300 people. The registered shares (CSGN) of Credit Suisse's parent company, Credit Suisse Group AG, are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares (CS), in New York. Further information about Credit Suisse can be found at www.credit-suisse.com.
About Citadel
Established in 1990, Citadel is a leading global financial institution that provides asset management, investment banking, institutional sales & trading, market making and fund administration services. With over 1,200 employees globally, Citadel serves a diversified client base through its offices in the world’s major financial centers including Chicago, New York, London, Hong Kong and San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.citadelgroup.com.
About Omnium
Established in 2007, Omnium is a leading provider of administration services for financial institutions and hedge funds. With more than $60 billion in assets under administration, Omnium provides world-class, technology-driven fund administration and reporting services to clients operating across a broad spectrum of investment strategies and asset classes. Omnium operates in the world’s major financial centers including Chicago, New York and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.omnium.com.
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