Requirements

A Clearing Member is a guarantor and payment agent for all trades concluded at the Spot Market and steps between the transactions of ECC and Non Clearing Member to be contractual counter party for both on the Derivatives Market. A Clearing Member clears transactions as well as OTC-registered trades concluded on one of our Partner Exchanges for ECC-approved products.

As a participant in the clearing procedure, the Clearing Member holds a clearing license that covers all products cleared by ECC for the time being and in future as long as the product-specific pre-conditions are fulfilled.

Contractual basis with ECC are the ECC Clearing Conditions, Technical Regulations and ECC’s Price List.

The Clearing license can be limited to Partner Exchanges or Products upon request by the Clearing Member.

Types of Institution Clearing Membership

ECC offers two types of clearing membership for financial institutions:

Direct Clearing Member (DCM)

A DCM is authorised to clear transactions:

• on its own account,
• by affiliated Non-Clearing Members; and
• by clients that have no direct contractual link to ECC (customer transactions).

General Clearing Member (GCM)

A GCM is authorised to clear transactions:

• on its own account,
• by any Non-Clearing Members; and
• by clients that have no direct contractual link to ECC (customer transactions).

Prerequisites

A Clearing Member has to fulfill the following basic conditions:

• based in a member state of the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, the US or in a country that applies regulatory standards equivalent to the applicable regulatory standards of the EU.
• licensed by the regulatory authorities in charge within their countries of incorporation. The license needs to comprise the permission to offer banking transactions or financial services which are required for participation in clearing.
• liable equity fund (EUR 30 mn for GCMs / EUR 7.5 mn for DCMs)
• T2 account (own account or 3rd party account)
• Pledge-securities Account at Clearstream Banking Frankfurt for the deposit of collaterals
• Additionally for multi-currency settlement a settlement account through which USD or GBP funds can be processed at a Correspondent Bank
• technical access to ECC settlement system (EUREX/SMSS)
• proof of the operation of an adequate technical access (back-office access) and proof of qualified personnel
• contribution to the clearing fund (EUR 3.0 mn for GCMs / EUR 0.5 mn for DCMs)

Please refer to the ECC Clearing Conditions for further details.