VIDEO | “It’s scary what Euronext is doing.” Cboe Clear Europe’s Tim Beckwith made his view explicit as he joined a Stockholm panel with Euronext Clearing’s Eric Bey and SIX’s José Manuel Ortiz-Repiso. At the centre of discussion is the ongoing initiative by Euronext, Europe’s largest exchange operator group, to take over the main clearing business at all its exchange locations except Oslo.

Euronext, SIX, Cboe Clear Europe and BNP Paribas were all among the Stockholm event’s sponsors.

Euronext’s new clearing venture is being built around the operational resources of Italy’s clearinghouse that came in with the acquisition of Borsa Italiana some years ago. In Euronext’s own lingo, it is putting its new Euronext Clearing in the role of “CCP of choice” – a term that Tim Beckwith was quick to jump on.

“There is no choice there,” he exclaimed.

Eric Bey responded that the competition in clearing cannot be understood independently; all the five large clearing actors in Europe are now owned by financial marketplace operators, where clearing capabilities double as a driver of trading volumes.

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Despite his critique, describing it as “scary” what Euronext is doing, Cboe Clear Europe’s Tim Beckwith sees many strengths about Europe’s clearing competition – with most markets running with CCP-interoperability regimes, or at least allowing members to agree on a joint preferred supplier.

José Manuel Ortiz-Repiso, Head of Clearing & Repo Operations of SIX, mentioned that SIX is among those who have applied to be on the list of selectable “preferred clearing” providers at Euronext’s markets.

“This move from Euronext is really a game changer,” he acknowledged.

He emphasised that the member tier will be the judges of who should lead the continent’s clearing industry.

“The market participants will give us the signals,” he said.

The session was moderated by BNP Paribas Juha Sternberg, representative of derivatives execution and clearing for the Nordic Region.

• News around PostTrade 360° Stockholm 2023, on 29–30 March, is gathered here.
• The conference info site, with detailed agenda, is here.
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