KfW expands its business relationship with Eurex Clearing AG, starting central clearing of its Euro denominated interest rate swaps via Eurex Clearing in Frankfurt.
Central clearing of derivatives transactions significantly increases the safety and stability of the financial system. Central Counterparties calculate risks in real-time and demand adequate collateral. Moreover, they guarantee settlement of transactions. In Europe, derivatives legislation (EMIR) requires central clearing of standardised interest rate swap contracts.
As Germany’s largest promotional bank and public sector entity in the meaning of EMIR, KfW is exempted from this requirement. However, the bank has decided to clear voluntarily to increase settlement efficiency of the transactions it uses to hedge against interest rate changes.
„With KfW we won an additional and very important member for our service EurexOTC Clear“, says Erik Müller, CEO of Eurex Clearing. „At a time of rising regulatory requirements and continuing geopolitical uncertainty, we deliver attractive and efficient solutions that we build out in constant dialogue with our customers.“
„We welcome the expansion of our cooperation with Eurex Clearing by the clearing of Euro denominated interest rate derivatives“, says Dr. Günther Bräunig, KfW Board Member, responsible for capital markets. „KfW’s funding is based on a broad diversification of business partners. Therefore it makes sense to use central clearing to expand the number of our derivatives partners, while at the same time taking advantage of the benefits of central clearing from a risk management perspective.“
Over the last couple of months, demand for clearing services for over-the-counter derivatives, like swaps, rose significantly. This brings the G20 closer to their objective of strengthening the stability of the financial system by central clearing of as many transactions as possible.
Swap volumes cleared by EurexOTC Clear continue to grow. Since the beginning of 2017, Eurex Clearing has recorded an increase of 30 percent, while the notional outstanding is now more than 1,200 Billion Euro. Onboarding KfW significantly increases the liquidity of EurexOTC and makes its offering even more attractive, allowing Eurex Clearing to continue supporting the regulatory agenda at its best.
