Eurex Clearing is partnering North America's Quadriserv to offer central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services for securities lending of European equities.
The deal will see Quadriserv expand the reach of its securities lending platform, AQS into Europe, with Eurex Clearing providing CCP services.
The AQS platform will provide automated trading and middle office functionality for centralised, anonymous borrowing and lending, with Eurex Clearing mitigating counterparty risk and facilitating settlement processing for members.
The partners will initially offer services for trading, clearing and settlement in UK, German and Swiss equities.
Thomas Perna, CEO, Quadriserv, says: "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."
"To that end, 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."
The deal follows a similar clearing and settlement relationship Quadriserv has established with the Options Clearing Corporation for US equities, which will commence operations early this year.
Eurex Clearing says the agreement is part of its strategic expansion of its CCP services into securities lending. The Deutsche Börse subsidiary is already working with Clearstream Banking Luxembourg to launch a CCP service in the second quarter.