CME and DTCC Extend Cross-Margining Arrangement

CME Group and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) have announced plans to expand their existing cross-margining arrangement to provide increased margin savings and capital efficiencies to end users by December 2025.

Subject to regulatory approval, the firms say the proposed enhancement will allow eligible end user clients at CME and the Government Securities Division (GSD) of DTCC’s Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) to access capital efficiencies that are available when trading US Treasury securities and CME interest rate futures that have offsetting risk exposures. To participate in end-user cross margining, clients will need to leverage the same dually registered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and broker/dealer (as registered with the SEC) at both CCPs.

Under the arrangement, FICC will designate cross-margin accounts, allowing all eligible positions in the account to offset with eligible CME Group interest rate futures. CME Group will allow participants to direct futures to end-user cross-margin accounts throughout the day, thereby making them available for offset in the cross-margin arrangement. Ahead of the regulatory approvals, end-users can work to set up a new account, complete proper programme legal documentation and test end-to-end workflows.

“Bringing the benefits of cross-margining to the end-user is a critical step in enhancing capital efficiencies across US Treasury market participants,” says Laura Klimpel, head of DTCC’s fixed income and financing solutions. “Our ongoing collaboration with CME Group remains focused on extending cross-margin benefits to more customer accounts and eventually, to other products. Doing so will enable even greater efficiency, cost reduction, improved liquidity and increased risk management in the US Treasury markets.”

Suzanne Sprague, CME Group COO and global head of clearing and post-trade services, adds, “Extending our cross-margining agreement to client accounts is an important milestone in our efforts to make US Treasury markets more efficient for all market users. Building on more than 20 years of partnership, we look forward to working with DTCC and regulators to deliver even greater benefits to both cash and futures market participants.”