DCP Clearing Members
Requirements
DCP Clearing Member is a Clearing Member that has a DCP clearing license and is exclusively entitled to clear own spot market transactions.
For the financial settlement of transactions the DCP Clearing Member has to open a settlement account at a Settlement Bank of his choice. The legal relationship between a DCP Clearing Member, ECC and the Settlement Bank is defined by the Clearing Conditions and the Settlement Bank Agreement (if applicable).
Admission by ECC constitutes a fundamental precondition for exchange trading for DCP CMs. It ensures that settlement, delivery and hedging of the transactions are secured by the clearing house.
The following requirements are necessary for admission by ECC:
- completion of a Know-Your-Customer (KYC) Questionnaire if requested by ECC and passing of the ECC KYC assessment or other applicable access policies of ECC
- completion of a corresponding Settlement Bank Agreement with a co-operating Settlement Bank and ECC (if applicable)
- approval as a Trading Participant for at least one ECC approved spot market where DCP Model is available
- the conclusion of a balance group agreement with the respective TSO, in case of physical delivery
- equity (incl. subscribed capital, capital reserves, retained income less any losses incurred in the course of the year and less intangible assets) of at least 50,000 Euros. Increases of the subscribed capital during a given year shall be proven by means of the submission of the registration message. A DCP can increase the equity by means of bank guarantees or guarantees of a parent company accepted by ECC.
- Contribution to the Clearing Fund
Furthermore only companies based in a country approved by ECC for DCP Clearing can be admitted.
Domestic Country | DCP readiness approval |
Ireland | Received June 2017 |
Belgium | Received March 2017 |
Denmark2 | Received June 2020 |
France | Received October 2016 |
Germany | Received August 2016 |
Netherlands | Received September 2016 |
United Kingdom | Received May 2017 |
Switzerland | Received July 2017 |
Others1 | To be determined |
1 Interested customers stated in a country which is not DCP eligible yet can contact directclearing@ecc.de for further information on status.
2 Acceptable legal forms:
1.public limited company (in Danish: aktieselskab)
2. privat limited company (in Danish: anpartsselskab)
3. partnership (in Danish: interessentskab)
4. limited partnership (in Danish: kommanditselskab)
5. an association with limited liability (in Danish: “forening med begrænset ansvar”)
6. company with limited liability (in Danish: “selskab med begrænset ansvar”)
KYC Procedure
A company applying as a DCP Clearing Member at ECC has to pass the KYC (Know-Your-Customer) process at ECC. He needs to provide a signed and completed KYC questionnaire if requested by ECC. Additionally the following documents are required:
- Commercial registry extract (no older than 3 months) in original
- Financial statements from the last fiscal year. If no financial statement is available, business plan of the business activity for the next 3 years
- Powers of attorney of the legal representative and the corresponding passport copy (scanned color copy)
- Organizational chart explaining the shareholder/ownership' structure, up to the Ultimate Parent level as well as the direct and indirect beneficial owners.
Based on the information given in the KYC questionnaire, the accompanying documents and other information (e.g. Internet, Reuters) ECC calculates a score. Based on this score the applicant is assigned to a risk category which will decide whether to accept or refuse the company’s application.
In case the DCP CM notifies any material change according to ECC Clearing Conditions section 2.1.5 ECC might request an updated KYC Questionnaire.

Admission Process
The admission by ECC is divided in two parts:
- Admission as DCP Clearing Member:
At the beginning of each membership stands the admission as DCP CM. Therefore, a DCP-form needs to be handed in. - Admission for Clearing of different products:
The second part of admission is the application for clearing of different spot products traded on ECC’s Partner Exchanges. Therefore, TP-forms have to be sent in. - To receive access to ECC’s clearing and settlement systems the DCP CM has to provide the respective technical form.
- For the limit distribution process the respective operational form is required. More details on the process and accepted collaterals can be found here.
After receiving the originals of all required documents, ECC will commence the admission process. The documents will be examined for completeness as well as correctness. For your convenience you may also send us a scan in advance in order to avoid mistakes and guarantee a swift admission process.
As soon as all confirmations are available, admission will be issued and information sent to the Partner Exchange.
Admission Process - Overview

Extension of an DCP Membership - New Products
To extend the existing DCP Clearing license to another product the respective Trading Participant Form has to be submitted to ECC. A DCP CM can only trade on spot markets which fulfill ECC’s requirements to the DCP model.
Approved Markets
Admission as Trading Participant at a spot market which is approved by ECC to be DCP ready is one of the prerequisites to become DCP Clearing Member.
The following markets have been approved by ECC and will continuously be enhanced by ECC.
Exchange | Product Name | |
EPEX SPOT | German Power Spot (IT|IT1|ST) | |
EEX | Guarantees of Origin Auction (ST) | |
SEMOpx | Irish Power Spot (IT|IT1|IT2|IT3|ST) |