The thing about useful stuff is: Clearing in Europe is going to heat up

Clearing in Europe is going to heat up Friday, August 15, 2008

European Central Counterparty Limited (EuroCCP) launches tomorrow with 15 clearing firms, including the 9 founding members of Turquoise.

The Turquoise firms are Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Citi, UBS, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale. The others are ABN Amro, Barclays Capital, Credit Agricole Cheuvreux, Instinet, KAS Bank and Lehman Brothers.

Of the 15 firms, 6 are general clearing participants who will be able to clear and settle trades for trading firms who are not EuroCCP clearers. The remainder will be clearing and settling their own trades.

Owned by DTCC, this is a overseas significant expansion by the US outfit, albeit it has taken them many years to land a large contract despite having had people on the ground in Europe for many years. It will undoubtedly create an even more competitive landscape in the central clearer market. Moreover, DTCC has deep pockets to fund its efforts thanks to its US revenues.