Centrally Cleared CFDs (cccfd) Frequently Asked Questions LCH.Clearnet/Chi-X CFD clearing service

Transcription

1 Centrally Cleared CFDs (cccfd) Frequently Asked Questions LCH.Clearnet/Chi-X CFD clearing service Scope & Background SB1. What is the go-live date? The target go-live is third quarter SB2. Which securities are included? LCH.Clearnet and Chi-X will initially launch the Contracts For Difference (cccfd) service covering the UK s 100 most liquid securities. Shortly after launch, it is expected that a further range of pan-european securities will be added to the service. SB3. What exactly is LCH.Clearnet and Chi-X introducing? The centrally cleared (cccfd) service will support the world s first combined cash equity vs. derivative order, whereby cleared cash equity trade legs can match against cccfd trade legs. Chi-X will record crossing orders via their Chi-Clear platform taking the following combinations: Equity with equity cccfd with cccfd Equity with cccfd Those that trade the pure equity markets will see no difference to their clearing service. For those that clear both equity and cccfd products there will be efficiencies in equity margining as LCH.Clearnet will combine equities with cccfds for portfolio margin calculations wherever possible. SB4. What are the key benefits of this service? There are numerous benefits this service will bring to the market. These benefits differ depending on the market participant, be they a client, broker or clearing member. In general, the cleared cccfd service offers the following benefits: Standardised CFD with all the standard characteristics of OTC CFDs - LCH.Clearnet cccfd will be a centrally defined and standardised CFD allowing participant s to trade a single type of CFD. The cccfd offers all the usual benefits of CFDs such as long or short trading, leverage and tax efficiencies. Maintains best-execution pricing brokers are still able to offer clients the best execution pricing on their equity hedge. Once the hedge has been performed they can then enter a cccfd vs. equity cross to close the equity position and transform it into a cccfd position. CCP risk guarantees LCH.Clearnet, which is zero risk weighted, will become the counterparty to the cccfd. In line with regulatory push (including European Directive) for CCP clearing of OTC derivatives. Efficient margining LCH.Clearnet performs highly efficient margining; recognising position correlations, including cross netting CFDs with equity positions March

2 Dynamic real time financing allocation & multilateral netting produces maximum financing efficiency potentially dramatically reducing financing rates SB5. What does the flow look like? The diagram below provides a high level overview of the main flow being offered by the cccfd service. The executing broker executes a cccfd vs. Equity cross into the Chi-Clear system, which sends the trade to LCH.Clearnet for clearing. The cccfd vs. Equity cross could be the result of client interest in a cccfd or because the executing broker or Prime Broker would like to use the cccfd as a hedging tool, rather than equities. LCH.Clearnet can give-up the cccfd side of the cccfd vs. Equity cross to the Client s choice of Clearing member, giving the Client complete freedom of broker choice. In the example below the Client s writes a cccfd to the Client. Client Client confirms CCcfd contract Client requests CFD Executing Broker (EB) Trading Desk Client s Client A/C cccfd to Client s Chi-X Chi-Clear System EB enters CFD vs EQ cross Executing Broker s Equity to EB s House A/C LCH.Clearnet EquityClear LCH allocates cccfd vs EQ cross to ACM ACM 2 ACM 1 (Financing Provider) CSD for LCH ACM vs. EB CM equity leg 2

3 Who should I contact about this service? Emlyn Scott Business Development LCH.Clearnet emlyn.scott@lchclearnet.com Roland Chai Business Development LCH.Clearnet roland.chai@lchclearnet.com Ian Mackenzie Relationship Manager LCH.Clearnet ian.mackenzie@lchclearnet.com Andrea Schlaepfer Director, Corporate Communications LCH.Clearnet andrea.schlaepfer@lchclearnet.com Nathan Renyard Chi-X, Post Trade Services post.trade@chi-x.com SB6. Do you have clients already lined up for this? LCH.Clearnet has performed a level of due diligence to ensure the design of the model meets market requirements and to ensure that it will have market demand. Formal public meetings are now being conducted and we are receiving significant interest. A list of s that intend to offer cccfd clearing services will be listed on our website soon. SB7. Who will be the CFD sponsors/market makers? CFD financiers are Tier 1 institutions with extensive CFD experience. Details of the cccfd financiers will be released at a later stage. OPERATIONAL OP1. Will CCCFDs be identified by a unique ISIN/sedol Yes. OP2.Will cccfds be settled? cccfds entered into Chi-X on equities do not settle. LCH.Clearnet will realise a Clearing Member s P&L daily in cash in the currency of the particular cccfd. OP3. Are cccfds netted and how does it work? cccfds in each particular security (e.g. Vod cccfd) are netted in real time at settlement firm level. Any previous positions are rolled into a single open position against LCH. OP4. Will corporate actions and buyer elections be supported? LCH.Clearnet will process corporate events on cccfds, but will not be providing long cccfd holders with buyer election functionality at this stage. cccfds do not give holders voting rights. 3

4 RECEIVING DATA FROM LCH.Clearnet R1. How will GCM s receive details of the trades done by their NCM s? There are several ways this data can be accessed: 1. LCH.Clearnet produces reports on its member reporting website which are updated every 30 minutes and show the accumulation of trades that day, per clearing member. 2. LCH.Clearnet also offers an optional trade confirmation service. This provides clearers with real time equity and cccfd trade confirmations of trades accepted for clearing. R2. Can anyone other than s access the member reports? No. R3. Will LCH.Clearnet be producing extra reports for cccfds? Yes, LCH.Clearnet has created a number of extra reports to cover the extra information s will need to clear cccfds. In addition, we will also be producing a full suite of settlement firm (client level) reports, to help make the introduction of clearing services as easy as possible. FEES & CHARGES F1. What clearing fees will be charged by LCH.Clearnet? cccfd trades will be combined with a Member s existing equity volume for tariff calculations and the standard existing EquityClear tariff model will apply. Thus any increase in a Members volume due to cccfds will have the effect of reducing their equity tariffs by reducing the per unit cost. Please use the following link to view the fee schedule that is available on the website. F2. Will LCH.Clearnet require members to increase their Default Fund contribution? No, LCH.Clearnet does not expect a Member who plans to clear cccfds to make an extra contribution to the Default Fund. However, if a Member s average Initial Margin should increase as a result of cccfd open positions, then there is a possibility that their individual default fund contribution could increase. F3. Will LCH.Clearnet pass through associated settlement fees? cccfds do not settle, so there will be no settlement related fees to pass through. MARGINING & CASH FLOWS M1. How will margining be carried out? 4

5 Margin rates will be determined by LCH.Clearnet s risk department and margined using the day to day EquityClear margin algorithm ERA. Margining of cccfds will operate in the same way as for all EquityClear business, recognising the complete correlation between the cccfd and its underlying equity. M2. Do CCCFDs have financing flows? Yes. LONG cccfd holders will be charged appropriate bank benchmark rate (e.g. LIBOR for UK cccfds) plus a financing spread to cover the cost of financing the position. Short holders will receive the appropriate bank benchmark rate less a financing spread to cover the cost of financing including the stock-borrow. These will be calculated daily on a T+3 basis. DOCUMENTATION D1. Do I need to become a new LCH.Clearnet to clear Equity/ccCFD crosses? If you are already a Member of LCH.Clearnet s EquityClear service you will only need to sign an extension letter to clear Equity/ccCFD crosses. If you are not a Member of EquityClear then you will need to become a Member or have your trades cleared through a cccfd Member. D2. Will I require a new static data form or can I use existing set-up? EquityClear members can continue with existing relationships but will be required to complete a new static data form. D3. How will I provide information to LCH.Clearnet for opting into this service? EquityClear members should contact LCH.Clearnet to confirm their interest in this service. LCH.Clearnet will issue a static data form which will be sent to you for completion. D4. Will I need to fill in a form for testing? Yes, a form will be sent to you. This needs to be completed and returned. D5. What is the process for offering clearing services or self clearing if I am not already a Member of EquityClear? Those wishing to use LCH.Clearnet as a new member will be required to complete the new membership pack and associated documents. The Criteria for s include: ICM Capitalisation of 5m GCM Capitalisation of 10m For further LCH.Clearnet Limited membership information please use the following link. 5

6 TESTING T1. Does LCH.Clearnet provide or indeed mandate member testing? LCH.Clearnet does not mandate Member testing and each Member wishing to clear cccfds will be expected to sign a self-certification document of their ability to act as a clearer. However, although testing is optional we expect that every intending to clear cccfds will want to test. T2. Will member testing involve LCH.Clearnet s settlement agent? No. cccfds do not settle, so there is no need for s to test with a CSD. 6