CME-LCH basis affecting choice of venue, say buy-siders

Pimco: price gap is now “material”; Eaton Vance says lowest cost is key factor

CME Group: basis threat to clearing service

Buy-side firms say a two-week jump in the cost of trading swaps that are cleared at CME Group rather than rival LCH.Clearnet is big enough to drive them away from the Chicago-based venue – and some worry the basis could threaten the existence of CME's clearing service.

A small difference between the two central counterparties (CCPs) has always been recorded in the market for so-called switch trades, or basis swaps, in which equal and offsetting trades are simultaneously executed and cleared at e