Barclays Group Africa Goes Live on EquiLend for Securities Finance Trading

NEW YORK (July 4, 2014)—On July 1, Absa Bank, the South African banking entity of Barclays Group Africa, became the first-ever domestic South African entity to execute a securities finance trade via the EquiLend trading platform.

With Absa Bank now trading on EquiLend, the bank and its clients benefit from the ability to automate securities finance trading with EquiLend counterparties around the globe. Furthermore, global market participants now have unprecedented access to the South African market.

Brian Lamb, CEO of EquiLend, says: “As EquiLend’s global footprint continues to expand, we are constantly aware of our clients’ demands to bring the automation and efficiency gains seen for users of our platform to new markets. We have seen significant interest among domestic market participants in South Africa, who are keen to elevate their international presence by joining the EquiLend platform. We anticipate considerable growth in this market going forward.”

Francois Henrion, head of Equity Finance within Absa’s Prime Services business, says: “Partnering with EquiLend was a natural step for Barclays Group Africa in becoming the ‘go-to’ prime brokerage business. Our prime brokerage clients benefit from improved pricing and liquidity in their financing portfolios, and as a lending business, we are able to significantly improve our access to, and utilization of, inventory.”

EquiLend anticipates greater activity in the South African securities finance market as the need for an efficient means of sourcing securities to cover failed trades becomes increasingly important with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange moving toward a shorter securities settlement cycle, from the current T+5 cycle to T+3. That has increased demand among domestic market participants for securities finance in South Africa.

About 100 principal lenders, agent lenders and broker-dealers in the securities finance markets globally are active on EquiLend and its fixed-income trading counterpart BondLend.

About EquiLend:

EquiLend is a leading provider of trading and post-trade services for the securities finance industry with offices in New York, London, Hong Kong and Toronto. EquiLend is backed by 10 global financial institutions: BlackRock, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Clearing, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust, State Street and UBS.
Used by securities borrowers and lenders globally, the EquiLend platform (for equities) and BondLend platform (for fixed income) automate formerly manual trading and post-trade processes in the securities finance industry. DataLend, the securities finance market data division of EquiLend, provides highly cleansed and standardized securities finance data covering all asset classes, regions and markets globally.

About Corporate and Investment Banking at Barclays Africa:

Corporate and Investment Banking, a division of Absa Bank Limited (Absa) and a member of Barclays, is a leading corporate and investment bank with global reach, offering clients financing, risk management and advisory solutions in a wide range of currencies and structures across the globe.