Friesland Bank, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank N.V. (ABN AMRO Clearing) and LCH.Clearnet Ltd (LCH.Clearnet), today announced that Friesland Bank has signed up to LCH.Clearnet’s SwapClear service to clear OTC interest rate swap (IRS) transactions through ABN AMRO Clearing. Friesland Bank is the first Dutch client to benefit from SwapClear’s proven risk management experience.
Friesland Bank, an independent bank with a total balance sheet of €11 billion, is the sixth largest general bank in the Netherlands. The Bank is fully supportive of the regulatory developments and is committed to adapting to the changes around increased clearing of OTC derivatives and improved transparency in the market.
ABN AMRO Clearing, a leading global securities services provider, is the primary clearing broker for Friesland Bank’s interest rate swap transactions. It will backload Friesland Bank’s portfolio of OTC IRS trades, representing the first client clearing transaction in the Netherlands.
“By backloading and clearing interest rate swap transactions, Friesland Bank will benefit from reduced counterparty risk, increased capital efficiencies and lower overall operational risks.” said Erik de Boer, General Manager Treasury & Financial Markets at Friesland Bank. “Clearing our trades through ABN AMRO Clearing and LCH.Clearnet’s SwapClear confirms our commitment towards a safer and more secure OTC environment.”
“We are delighted to be the first Dutch bank to offer client clearing for OTC traded interest rate swaps” said Alexander Jacobs, Head of the OTC Derivatives Clearing Service at ABN AMRO Clearing. “We would like to welcome Friesland Bank, a trusted partner for many years, and we look forward to taking our service offering to the next level. We are determined to remain at the forefront of the industry by offering central clearing of OTC traded products to our clients and providing them access to risk management solutions ahead of the regulatory changes.”
Michael Davie, CEO of the SwapClear service at LCH.Clearnet said: “We welcome the decision of Friesland Bank to clear their OTC IRS trades in SwapClear through ABN AMRO Clearing. We look forward to helping Friesland Bank realise the capital, operational and credit risk efficiencies they seek and congratulate them, and their partner ABN AMRO Clearing, for taking this step ahead of regulatory change. We will continue to develop SwapClear’s member and client offering to attract an increasing network of participants over time.”
