New York-based Nyfix says SIS x-clear will join BNP Paribas as a provider of post-trade services for its Euro Millennium dark pool, which launched in March. The vendor recruited the French banking group to provide pan-European post trade services for the ATS in December last year.

Nyfix says the SIS x-clear system will further reduce post-trade costs and risks by providing a netting service and a real-time risk management system to ensure that all positions are continuously monitored and assessed.

The netting service will create a single trade for settlement that combines all of the trades that have been done with a given counterparty for a particular International Securities Identifying Number (Isin). Settlement for each security will be in the principal place of settlement liquidity for the stock, allowing the interchangeability of settlement between Euro Millennium and other exchanges and multilateral trading facilities (MTFs).

Commenting on the agreement, Chris Smith, director, Nyfix International, says: "One of the most important aspects in selecting SIX x-clear as our partner was the ability to ensure that mid and small-cap stocks traded on Euro Millennium could be settled as effectively as the most liquid large-cap stocks."

Nyfix says the SIS x-clear service is expected to be available by the end of 2008.

The Euro Millennium deal follows the news last week that the LSE will allow SIS x-clear to join LCH.Clearnet as a competitive provider of clearing services on its equity market. The move will allow customers to choose whether to clear trades through the Swiss central counterparty or through the LSE's incumbent provider LCH.Clearnet.