Eurex Clearing offers three types of clearing membership:
Direct Clearing Membership (DCMs)
DCMs can clear their own business and those of affiliated DC Market Participants. They may also clear for any undisclosed clients and/or DCs. OTC DCMs may only clear proprietary business.
General Clearing Membership (GCMs)
GCMs may clear their own business and those of all clients.
FCM Clearing Membership
For clearing of Swap Transactions through Eurex Clearing AG, FCM (Futures Commission Merchant) Clearing Members act as agents on behalf of their FCM Clients (U.S. persons and non-U.S. persons) and, if applicable, for their own account.
Markets overview
The Clearing Member should apply for the clearing licences dependent on the products or markets in which they would like to be active. We offer licences to the following markets:
Admission requirements
Below is a list of the main requirements and general considerations you should be aware of if you wish to pursue a clearing membership for Eurex Derivatives, Eurex OTC Clear, Eurex Repo and Deutsche Börse Cash Markets. This section provides details on the application form, regulatory and capital requirements and necessary collateral infrastructure.
The main application form is the "Application for the Granting of a Clearing Licence of Eurex Clearing AG", there will be additional forms to complete depending on the cash, securities and settlement accounts you wish to set up.
In terms of legal agreements, there are three main agreements a CM will enter into:
We will also need to carry out know your customer checks. Eurex Clearing is able to collect most of the evidences needed for these checks independently. If you are located in the EAA then usually customers will just need to provide a sanctions compliance form and an up to date signatory list.
We will also need to carry out know your customer (KYC) checks. Eurex Clearing is able to collect part of the evidences needed for these checks independently.
In order to simplify the KYC review for multiple business relations with Group Deutsche Börse (GDB) entities, we recommend submitting the “Letter of Consent”. The Letter of Consent enables entities of Deutsche Börse Group to share KYC documents between group entities. This decreases the administrative burdens for our customers – e.g. a DC Market Participant of Eurex Clearing and a Eurex Trading Member will only have to provide the KYC documents once to Eurex Clearing AG rather than sending the documentation twice.
We will also need to carry out know your customer checks. Eurex Clearing is able to collect most of the evidences needed for these checks independently. If you are located in the EAA then usually customers will just need to provide a sanctions compliance form and an up to date signatory list.
The corner stone of a Clearing House's integrity is the ability to manage the default of its members. Eurex Clearing has put in place a robust default management procedure to deal with such market events. We have a dedicated section of our website if you wish to learn more about our default management procedures, however there are three responsibilities that you will have to meet if you want to become a Clearing Member.
Default Fund (DF)
Eurex Clearing requests all members to contribute to the default fund. Unlike other CCPs, this can be provided in cash (GBP, CHF or EUR) and/or securities.
DF contributions are provided to Eurex Clearing when a CM applies for their first licence. No extra contributions are required when applying for additional licences. However it should be noted that due to the dynamic component of the DF calculation, a higher margin requirement due to increased volumes usually results in a request for further contributions.
Risk Operations review the figure at the end of every month and if necessary the CM will be asked to increase their contribution.
DCM | GCM/FCM | OTC IRD DCM or Basic Clearing Member |
EUR 1 million | EUR 5 million | 100K for Investment Funds, Insurance Pools, |
For further information on the Default Fund click here.
DMP coordinator
Members are required to nominate a DMP coordinator. The DMP coordinator is contacted by Eurex Clearing in the case of a default situation. It is the responsibility of the DMP coordinator to distribute all DMP-related information to the relevant persons within their organization.
Participation in Auctions
Clearing Members also have mandatory bidding obligations in the event of default auction. Please see the relevant section of the website for more information on these obligations.
Confirmation from the relevant supervisory authority that the company is supervised and that this licence covers the provision of credit to customers in relation to transactions and the receipt of collateral in the form of cash or securities. There are additional regulatory evidences you have to provide if the application is coming from a branch located in certain jurisdictions.
Eurex Clearing requires proof of the applicant's capital adequacy. Proof is provided by scanned copy of the return the CM would usually provide to its regulator, so providing evidence is a straightforward process.
The capital requirement of Eurex Clearing depends on the market. Capital requirements are additive, for example if the applicant applies for Eurex and OTC IRD GCM clearing licence they must provide proof of EUR 30 mn + EUR 30 mn = EUR 60 mn.
The highest of the below
Eurex Exchange | EurexOTC IRD Clear | Eurex OTC NDF Clear | Cash market | Repo** | |
DCM | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 3.75 | 50 |
GCM/FCM* | 30 | 30 | 30 | 15 | 200 |
* For FCMs, only EurexOTC Clear
** Specific Repo: n/a
Clearing Members are required to have the following collateral infrastructure.
More information on accepted payment banks
Transaction reporting
Find out more about transaction reporting under EMIR and using Deutsche Börse’s REGIS-TR as trade repository.
* For FCM, only EUR
As we strive to maintain high qualification levels of clearing firms for reasons of clearing house integrity, it is required to register at least one "Qualified Clearing Staff" (QCS) in the back-office with Eurex Clearing.
The Clearing Member has the following possibilities to provide proof of the qualification of the staff member that shall be in QCS:
All tests, exams and seminars are offered by Deutsche Börse Capital Markets Academy.
If the Clearing Member is outsourcing its clearing, back office or risk management functions to an Insourcer, either the Clearing Member or the Insourcer has to have a QCS.