LONDON (Reuters) -The European Central Bank will join Eurex’s centrally-cleared repo market from the first quarter of 2026, the Deutsche Boerse derivatives exchange said on Thursday.
The ECB and national euro zone central banks already lend securities to market participants. The move will shift some of that activity to centrally cleared transactions, which reduce counterparty risk in trades.
Repo markets, where lenders and borrowers exchange cash and collateral — often high-quality bonds — in overnight trades, are crucial to the functioning of the financial system.
Activity in the euro zone repo market has risen sharply since the European Central Bank raised rates into positive territory and started reducing its bond holdings. Total outstanding volumes on Eurex’s platform are up around 50% since the end of last year.
Other central banks, including Germany’s, are already members of Eurex’s repo market.
(Reporting by Yoruk Bahceli; Editing by Amanda Cooper)
