Effective July 1st 2005, Citigroup Global Transaction Services Milan, will become an international clearing member of the Austrian CCP (CCP.A) and, as a clearing agent, will provide clearing services for exchange members.
Marcello Topa, Citigroup Global Transaction Services’ Securities Country Manager for Italy and Austria said: “Citigroup’s membership of CCP.A offers our international customers professional and easy access to the Austrian capital markets”.
Only a few months after the successful launch of Central Counterparty Austria , which acts as Clearing House for the Vienna Stock Exchange, more and more international market participants are looking towards the Austrian market. Citigroup’s new membership underlines CCP.A’s international acceptance and the increasing interest in the Austrian stock market.
“Besides the substantial increase in liquidity and the strong performance of the leading index ATX, the legal framework and smooth operation, as well as settlement efficiency, are major reasons for the increasing interest in the Austrian market. During the implementation of CCP.A, we took into consideration the international recommendations for CCP’s of ECB/CESR, especially with regard to risk management” said CCP.A’s CEO Wolfgang Aubrunner.
CCP.A is responsible for the clearing and settlement of cash and derivatives market transactions executed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. CCP.A acts as Central Counterparty to each trade and so assumes the risk of default and guarantees efficient clearing. In terms of volumes, the Austrian Clearing House performs more then 10,000 transactions per day which amounts to EUR 80 billion per year.
