BNP Paribas Securities Services extends its initial margin services to Asia Pacific
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BNP Paribas Securities Services extends its initial margin services to Asia Pacific 15 January 2021UK Reporter: Natalie Turner
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BNP Paribas Securities Services is expanding its collateral management range of services in Asia Pacific (APAC) to help firms in the region manage initial margin (IM) requirements arising from their non-cleared over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives positions.
IM rules, which aim to mitigate risk, have been coming into force since 2016, phases five and six for institutions with non-cleared derivatives positions above €50 billion and €8 billion respectively will come into force in 2021 and 2022.
BNP Paribas Securities Services’ IM solution has been live since 2017 and it enables financial institutions to outsource the complexity of implementing initial margin models and processes thanks to a full range of open architecture services.
These include risk factors and initial margin calculations, exposure management, exchange of initial margin calls and a triparty collateral management solution with segregated custody arrangements.
Located in Hong Kong, the new desk will focus on Asian markets and provide local client coverage to meet growing appetite from clients looking to increase their asset allocations into the region.
David Beatrix, head of product, collateral access at BNP Paribas Securities Services, says: “Asset owners can have a challenging time when implementing initial margin requirements due to the size of their derivative positions and the fact that they tend to operate under one single consolidated entity.
“Asset owners also tend to delegate their investment process across multiple managers, which can result in fragmented initial margin calculations leading to higher collateral requirements,” he adds. “Our services take the complexity out of the process, enabling asset owners to centralise their calculations and adopt a streamlined and efficient approach to initial margins implementation.”
Elsewhere, distributed ledger technology (DLT)-powered securities finance platform provider HQLAx has closed a €14.4 million strategic investment round led by BNP Paribas Securities Services, BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup, with additional participation from longtime strategic partner Deutsche Boerse.
BNP Paribas Securities Services, will connect to the HQLAx platform in 2021 with the aim of accelerating collateral mobility for their clients across the securities finance ecosystem.
Elsewhere, Hélène Virello, global head of investment and collateral services for BNP Paribas Securities Services, says her firm is backing HQLAx because of a shared vision of “bringing increased agility to today’s bespoke collateral environment”.
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Image: Alexey Novikov/adobe.stock.com 