Eight dealers have started confirming OTC Equity Options electronically using SwapsWire.
The service completed its first week of operation successfully after going live on May 16th. A dozen firms have backed the service, including Barclays, BNP Paribas, Calyon, Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Societe Generale and UBS. More dealers are expected to go live on the system shortly.
SwapsWire allows deals to be captured, verified and confirmed on-screen within minutes of execution, removing the need for manual processing of paper contracts. As well as the reduction in processing cost, confirmation on trade date (T+0) means a significant reduction in operational risk. SwapsWire is already used extensively by dealers, inter-dealer brokers and buy-side clients in Europe, the U.S.A. and Asia for other OTC derivative products including interest rate and credit derivatives.
The system supports new trade and trade-life cycle events including amendments, increases and decreases, terminations, exercises, assignments and corporate actions.
Chip Carver, CEO of SwapsWire said: "We're pleased that this new product class is up and running so quickly following the announcement of the initiative in January this year. SwapsWire has proven its ability to re-use its existing infrastructure for new product classes."