Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Liffe launches joint venture with London Clearing House

Monday 29 March 1999 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

LIFFE, the futures exchange, yesterday announced details of a joint venture with the London Clearing House (LCH), a development that could see Liffe expand beyond its traditional market of financial derivatives, writes Lea Paterson.

Brian Williamson, Liffe chairman, said the new venture would allow the two organisations to explore business opportunities that did not naturally fall within their individual remits.

Liffe and the LCH - which provides clearing services to the International Petroleum Exchange and the London Metal Exchange as well as Liffe - plan to combine their expertise to offer new trading and clearing initiatives to the market's major players.

The venture could serve as a stepping stone for Liffe to enter other financial markets such as equities, Mr Williamson said. However, he acknowledged that any move away from the exchange's traditional base could require the co-operation of other City institutions.

The Liffe chairman stressed that the joint venture with the LCH was not a prelude to a full-scale merger, but was rather one of a number of partnerships that Liffe intends to pursue as a means of securing its longer term future. He said: "Liffe will remain a customer of the London Clearing House for day-to-day business, but as far as development is concerned it will have a partner."

A development board will be asked to oversee the joint venture in its initial stages. Pen Kent, non-executive director of NatWest and former executive director of the Bank of England, is among the development board members, as are Sir Brian Pitman, Lloyds TSB chairman, and Alastair Clark, an executive director of the Bank of England.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in