Eurex’s established direct access model for the buy-side, ISA Direct, will be extended to broaden its availability to a greater range of market participants, including hedge funds. These firms, and their counterparty dealer banks, will now be able to benefit to an even larger degree from the capital and risk management advantages that come through direct access to repo clearing at Eurex. Go live of the expanded model, ISA Direct Indemnified, is planned for the fourth quarter of this year after having recently received regulatory approval.

Alongside the launch of ISA Direct Indemnified, Eurex has this week published a whitepaper on "Capital efficiencies through direct access repo clearing models for the buy-side". This paper provides a case study that explores how Eurex’s repo clearing models offer dealer banks opportunities for balance sheet, leverage, and risk-based capital optimization, consequently leading to better execution terms for the buy-side.

"Alongisde the broadening of our pioneering ISA Direct model, which will extend the benefits of direct access to a greater number of market participants, I am pleased to also announce the publication of our latest whitepaper", says Matthias Graulich, Chief Strategy Oficer at Eurex Clearing. "As regulatory capital requirements drive the rationing of scarce balance sheet capacity, the case study in our new paper shows how direct access can deliver significant efficiencies and create capacity for business growth."

The upcoming launch of ISA Direct Indemnified is just the latest stage in Eurex’s efforts to widen access to secured funding and financing markets. Giving a greater range of market participants – now including hedge funds – direct CCP access delivers tangible efficiencies to those involved, and stable cleared repo markets also support broader financial stability and monetary policy transmission objectives.