Citadel LLC, Freddie Mac and PIMCO use Bloomberg's industry workflow solution to connect to CME Clearing

Bloomberg VCON helps reduce costs, market risks and meet mandates of Dodd-Frank Act

NEW YORK -- (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Bloomberg today announced that VCON, the firm's voice trade confirmation system for cash and derivative instruments, is the first to connect buy-side and sell-side firms to multiple central clearing counterparties (CCPs) for interest rate swaps (IRS) central clearing.

Bloomberg also announced that Citadel LLC, Freddie Mac and PIMCO are among the firms now using Bloomberg's VCON industry workflow solution to connect to CME Clearing. Other clearing houses already connected via the Bloomberg tool are the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) & CME Clearing for Credit Derivatives, and the International Derivatives Clearing Group (IDCG) for Interest Rate Swaps. Clients also have access to LCH.Clearnet's Swapclear service through Bloomberg VCON's integration with MarkitServ.

Bloomberg's VCON <GO> is a multi-asset class system that will allow for all post-trade communications and affirmations to be completed on one platform. Bloomberg clients are able to match trades, integrate them with Bloomberg analytics, and send those trades directly to all major central clearing counterparties (CCPs) for interest rate swaps (IRS) and credit swap derivatives (CDS).

"Bloomberg's VCON interface has become a widely-accepted industry utility, providing clients with a centralized hub for credit derivatives clearing," said Ben Macdonald, Bloomberg's Global Head of Fixed Income Trading. "By adding the ability to clear interest rate swaps, Bloomberg provides clients with a comprehensive, easy to use, efficient and cost-saving solution that will help mitigate market exposure and meet the latest regulatory requirements."

Kim Taylor, President of CME Clearing, said, "With Monday's launch, CME Clearing establishes an open standard API for platforms such as Bloomberg, to send affirmed trades directly to a clearing house or CCP. CME Clearing, in conjunction with its technology partners, has set a new standard for STP efficiency. We look forward to working with Bloomberg to deliver an enhanced end-user clearing experience."

Gerald Beeson, COO of Citadel, said, "We feel this development in the launch of the Interest Rate Derivative market here in the U.S. is an important step forward and will provide further momentum in connection with fulfilling the promise of central clearing of derivatives. We welcome the opportunity to be an early adopter of CME's platform and hope this is a catalyst for launch of similar efforts across other derivative markets. Bloomberg has been a valued technology partner in helping us achieve this with their VCON product."

John Shay, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of IDCG, said, "IDCG has been receiving trades from VCON since early September and have found it to be useful in the transition from OTC to our clearinghouse. IDCG has received very positive feedback about VCON since customers starting using it to deliver trades to IDCG in early September. We feel platforms with multiple connectivity options like IDCG and Bloomberg's VCON will help ease transition into the cleared environment for OTC derivative users."

Bloomberg announced the first-ever interface to CDS clearing in January, which is already widely in-use by the firm's clients. This addition to the VCON interface further builds out Bloomberg's capabilities as a provider of execution and post-trade services in the global market for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. Currently VCON supports all Fixed Income cash products, foreign exchange (FX), Futures, Options, IRS, and CDS including novations and unwinds.

Bloomberg's VCON service is available on the Bloomberg Professional service at VCON <GO>. Non-Bloomberg users can find out more information by contacting Jeffrey Missimer at jmissimer@bloomberg.net or Jennifer McMullen at jmcmullen@bloomberg.net or by calling 212-318-2000.

About Bloomberg

Bloomberg is the world's most trusted source of information for financial professionals and businesses. Bloomberg combines innovative technology with unmatched analytic, data, news, display and distribution capabilities, to deliver critical information via the Bloomberg Professional service and multimedia platforms. Bloomberg's media properties span television, radio, digital and print, making up one of the world's largest news organizations with more than 2,300 news and multimedia professionals at 146 bureaus in 72 countries.

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