Bolsas y Mercados Españoles and Clearstream have started operations of the trade repository Regis-TR that is jointly owned by the two market infrastructures.
The trade repository aims to meet demands from regulators for more transparency in the OTC derivatives market.
The start of operations of Regis-TR takes place one year after the initiative was announced in November 2009 and follows a testing period in which the financial institutions Banco Sabadell and BBVA participated as pilots. Over the last few weeks the corporates Iberia and Telefónica also joined as pilots.
To operate the trade repository, BME and Clearstream have created a new company that will be headquartered in Luxembourg and which will have the following board: Jeffrey Tessler (pictured), chief executive of Clearstream, as chairman; José Massa, chairman of Iberclear, as vice chairman; Jesús Benito, chief executive of Iberclear; and Philip Brown, executive board member and head of relationship management at Clearstream.
The general management of the company will consist of Benito as managing director and Thilo Derenbach, senior vice president of Clearstream, as deputy managing director.
Tessler says: “We will turn a regulatory requirement into a benefit for our clients by creating a more efficient environment through automation and standardisation, thus also reducing operational risk. Our trade repository is designed to meet future market and regulatory expectations for the collateralisation of the OTC derivative exposure, where Regis-TR can leverage Clearstream’s expertise in this field.”
Benito adds: “The start of operations of Regis-TR with a very short time-to-market marks a major step forward for the company and the materialisation of a solution that aims to enhance transparency in the OTC derivatives market by providing regulators with a clear picture of the market, in this way building on the know-how and years of experience of Iberclear in the operation of registries. The interest expressed by Iberia and Telefónica to participate as pilots is further proof of the interest our trade repository has generated among financial and non-financial institutions.”
Regis-TR collects and administers details of all OTC transactions reported by users, giving market participants and regulators access to a consolidated global view of these OTC derivative positions.
