CC&G now provides clearing services for contracts traded in government bonds and domestic corporate bonds, with settlement services provided by Monte Titoli.

With CC&G standing as a buyer to every seller and vice versa, the existing bilateral counterparty risk is removed. The introduction of this new service makes MOT, Borsa Italiana's market dedicated to corporate and government bonds, the first regulated retail bond market in Europe to offer CCP services.

The new service will offer firms a more efficient post-trade management process, allowing greater STP, multilateral netting and margin offset between MOT & MTS. It will also give anonymity to participants involved in transactions, a feature increasingly required by market participants.

This initiative represents the first step in a progressive extension of the CCP system provided by CC&G to London Stock Exchange Group bond markets, with the second phase including a roll-out of CC&G to EuroMOT and the MTF ExtraMOT during 2011.

These steps will help improve the quality and efficiency of the technological infrastructure supporting trading and post-trading systems available to intermediaries.

Paolo Cittadini, CEO of Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia, said: "Today's announcement marks another important step towards CC&G realising its ambition to supply central counterparty services to every Italian trading platform. It is also a great example of CC&G's ability to quickly and effectively deliver new services."