[A press release from Euronext.liffe regarding launch of Afirm — the final part of their wholesale service consisting of three systems, all developed by Cinnober.]
Euronext.Liffe to launch final part of its wholesale services offering – Afirm – on 28 November
Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Paris, 24 November 2005 – Euronext.liffe, the international derivatives business of Euronext, today announced that it will launch Afirm, its new ‘off-exchange’ OTC post-trade matching service for the wholesale equity derivatives market, on 28 November 2005. Afirm completes the trio of fully integrated transactional products announced by Euronext.liffe in April, which addressed various major challenges faced by the OTC market, and which was welcomed by the user community. The trio provide straight through processing (STP) from pre-trade price discovery to post-trade registration, administration and clearing of wholesale equity derivatives.
Afirm offers affirmation or matching as a route to confirmation for wholesale equity derivatives trades and can be accessed through either the Internet or an FpML (Financial products Mark-up Language) enabled solution that is integrated into customers’ proprietary systems. The service is geared towards providing reduced operational risk and enhanced operational efficiency, centreing on rapid confirmation of trades without the requirement for extended manual processes. When used in conjunction with Cscreen, Afirm users will also benefit from greater savings by bridging the manual processes between pre-trade price discovery and post-trade confirmation.
Afirm can either be used as a stand-alone service or in conjunction with Cscreen, the pre-trade price discovery platform acquired by Euronext.liffe in April. Users requiring an on-exchange administration and clearing service will also have access to Bclear, launched on 24 October, a service that offers an innovative, low-cost facility for the booking of wholesale equity derivative transactions.
Euronext.liffe’s Chief Executive, Hugh Freedberg, said: “Afirm is the final element of our fully integrated wholesale equity derivatives service. This service will provide customers with an efficient and cost-effective facility for pre-trade price discovery and for submission to clearing or to the Afirm post-trade matching service, on a straight through processing basis.”
For more information, please contact:
Amsterdam: +31 20 550 4488
Brussels: +32 2 509 1392
Lisbon: +351 217 900 000
London: +44 20 7379 2789
Paris: +33 1 49 27 11 33
Notes to Editors
1. Cscreen, acquired by Euronext.liffe in April 2005 is a pre-trade price discovery platform, which provides straight through processing to the post-trade administration and clearing services.
2. Bclear, the Cleared Service, launched on 24 October 2004, is an on-exchange administration and clearing service which provides an environment for the trade registration and clearing of over 300 European blue-chip single stock options and 12 index futures and options.
3. Afirm will be operated by LIFFE Services Limited, which is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the U.K. as a service company; Cscreen is also operated by LIFFE Services Limited. Bclear is operated by LIFFE Administration and Management, which is regulated by the FSA as a Recognised Investment Exchange.