February 03, 2022

LCH SwapAgent completes first EUR swaption trade under AFB/FBF

  • Natixis CIB and Crédit Agricole CIB were the counterparties to the first SwapAgent trade under the French law FBF/AFB master agreement  
  • 33 counterparties have processed over $3.7 trillion in notional volume on LCH SwapAgent since launch
  • LCH SwapAgent offers standardisation, efficiency and simplicity in the bilateral derivatives market

LCH SwapAgent today announced it has processed its first EUR swaption trade under an FBF/AFB master agreement governed by French law. Natixis CIB and Crédit Agricole CIB were the counterparties to the trade.

The EUR swaption trade will be ESTR discounted and Euro collateralised under the SwapAgent Credit Support Annex (CSA). The SwapAgent CSA is the first widely adopted standardised CSA in the bilateral derivative market and seeks to improve efficiencies by standardising Euro collateral as variation margin for Euro swaptions. The SwapAgent standardised CSA is now in use by 33 global derivative counterparties across EMEA, the US and Asia Pacific.

The extension of the SwapAgent rulebook to support the French law FBF/AFB master agreement represents SwapAgent’s commitment to support the requirements of the French market, fully integrated within the global SwapAgent service.  

Nathan Ondyak, Global Head of LCH SwapAgent, said: “SwapAgent’s extension to support the French law FBF/AFB master agreement further exhibits our commitment to increase standardisation and reduce risk in the global derivative market. It is great to see Crédit Agricole CIB and Natixis CIB conduct the first EUR swaption trade under FBF/AFB on SwapAgent.”

Xavier Baudoin & Jerome Messines, Co-Global Head of Interest Rates Options Trading, Natixis CIB, said: “We are pleased to be involved in this important first with LCH SwapAgent. We welcome efforts to bring greater fungibility between the bilateral swaption and cleared swap markets, such as through the SwapAgent CSA.”

Christine Cremel - Head of Onboarding, Transaction Management & Clearing - Global Market Division Crédit Agricole CIB, said: “Participating in this milestone trade and the increased standardisation this extension brings to the derivatives markets means our customers can further benefit from operation efficiencies, such as centralised trade processing and optimisation. We are excited to be a part of this first with LCH SwapAgent.”

For further information
Nandeep Roopray / Christopher Loscher
Tel: +44 (0)20 7797 1222
Email: newsroom@lseg.com

About LCH
LCH is a group of leading multi-asset clearing houses that provides proven risk management capabilities across a range of asset classes. As demand for robust clearing services continues to grow, LCH is committed to maintaining the highest standards of risk management across all our services. 

As the markets’ partner, LCH operates an open access model, offering a choice of execution venues, delivering unprecedented choice and efficiencies to the marketplace. 

LCH operates clearing houses around the world, with clearing houses incorporated in the UK and  France and with offices in the United States and the Asia Pacific region. It offers clearing services across asset classes including OTC and listed rates; CDS and FX; fixed income; commodities; cash equities and equity derivatives. LCH also serves the non-cleared derivatives market through LCH SwapAgent, a service which extends the efficiencies and infrastructure of clearing to the market, without acting as a central counterparty. 

LCH is majority owned by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L), an international markets infrastructure business that sits at the heart of the world's financial community.

View a French version of this press release.