The Oslo Børs VPS group is committed to competitive pricing for its customers throughout the entire securities value chain. When central counterparty (CCP) clearing for equities trading is introduced in the Norwegian market next year, broking firms will see a significant drop in their clearing and settlement costs thanks to new competitive pricing model from Oslo Clearing and lower fees from VPS.
Central counterparty clearing of equities trading is well on the way to becoming the industry standard in the Nordic securities markets. Oslo Børs is part of this development, and will introduce mandatory CCP clearing 30 April 2010. The benefits of CCP clearing include lower risk exposure and reduced transaction costs for broking firms as a result of transaction netting, which means that only net positions are submitted for settlement.
Oslo Clearing will launch its equities trading CCP on 30 April 2010 with a new, competitive, pricing model for clearing trades in stock exchange listed cash equities. For further information on the new pricing model, see www.osloclearing.no.
In order to be competitive with other venues that have introduced CCP clearing, VPS reduced the fees it charges on broker-to-broker trades with effect from 1 November 2009. When CCP clearing is introduced on 30 April 2010, VPS will introduce a new specific fee for settlement of netted transactions. For further information see www.vps.no.
”As the largest player in the Norwegian securities market, we are committed to offering services for our customers that combine quality with competitive pricing. We recognize that clearing and settlement costs represent a significant cost factor for our customers, and the pricing that we are announcing today will have a positive effect on our customers’ costs when trading on Oslo Børs”, comments Bente A. Landsnes, CEO of Oslo Børs VPS.
If this pricing model and the new fees had been in effect from 1 January 2009, the combined revenue generated for Oslo Børs VPS from settlement through VPS and counterparty clearing by Oslo Clearing for the first nine months of this year would have been in the order of NOK 110 million. The actual revenue from settlement through VPS over the same period was NOK 155 million.