BFX appoints Standard Chartered Bank as its Clearing and Settlement Bank

The Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX), the Multi-Asset exchange in the Middle East and North Africa, which will be internationally accessible to trade cash instruments, derivatives, structured products and Shariah-compliant financial instruments, today, announced the appointment of Standard Chartered Bank as the clearing & settlement bank of the BFX Clearing and Depository Corporation (BCDC) which is a wholly owned clearing corporation of the BFX.

Standard Chartered Bank will provide electronic funds transfer and settlement processing services as well as maintain member clearing accounts to facilitate settlement of transactions executed on the Exchange.

The BFX and BCDC have implemented a sophisticated straight-through-processing technology for the trading and settlement of trade obligations. This technology enables efficient fund transfer between the accounts of the BCDC and its clearing members maintained with Standard Chartered Bank.  As the BFX will facilitate trading across multiple time zones spanning from Asia to United States, special processes will be implemented by the BCDC and Standard Chartered Bank to support clearing in the extended trading window.

Mr. Arshad Khan, the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the BFX and BCDC, said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Standard Chartered as our clearing and settlement partner.  Having such a well respected and professional organisation on board will bring substantial risk management provisions and safeguards to the BFX and BCDC market.  I look forward in sharing our successes with Standard Chartered Bank when we go live this year”.

Additionally, the BCDC will provide market participants the safeguard of knowing that the risk inherent in any trade is offset using robust systems of margin payment and trade innovation where the BCDC will take the opposite side of the trade.

Mr. Jonathan Morris, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank commented, “A clearing and settlement bank plays an important role in supporting the operations of an Exchange. As a leading international bank with a strong presence of 90 years in Bahrain, Standard Chartered Bank is an ideal partner for the BFX and its clearing corporation. We will continue to partner with the BFX to meet its requirements for a successful launch and its subsequent successful development. The Bank’s leadership in transaction banking and expertise in clearing services globally provides greater convenience for clearing members as they operate in markets across the world and across different time zones.”