More dealers sign up to new credit derivatives matching service

BNP Paribas, Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse First Boston, Goldman Sachs and UBS Warburg are the latest dealers to sign up to a new global credit default swap (CDS) matching service, which the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) plans to launch later this month.

The New York-based company developed the trade-matching service in consultation with a steering committee consisting of representatives from a number of dealers. JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley were among the first firms to sign up - there are now eleven subscribers in total.

A DTCC spokesman declined to disclose the identities of the three unnamed dealers, saying two firms had explicitly asked the DTCC not to publicise their involvement in the service at this stage.

“One of the most difficult things to do when creating a trade-matching or confirmation service is getting enough players so that you can process sufficiently high volumes of trades,” said Peter Axilrod, a managing director in business development at the DTCC, who added that the DTCC is confident it will now exceed its projections for initial dealer participation.

The forthcoming CDS initiative is at the vanguard of a wider push by the DTCC to provide more post-trade financial services for the over-the-counter market. Axilrod said the DTCC intends to offer automated confirmation of over-the-counter equity options later this year, and is looking at adding further OTC derivatives services in the future.