Trade Acceptance Service

On 3 March 2011, ASIC announced a timetable for the introduction of market competition for market operators. Prior to commencement of operations, a market operator needs to put in place adequate clearing and settlement arrangements.

ASX Group has developed the Trade Acceptance Service and makes it available to market operators so that trades executed on the trading platforms of those market operators can be cleared and settled by ASX Clear and ASX Settlement on the same basis as trades executed on ASX’s market.

The Trade Acceptance Service enables transactions in CHESS-eligible ASX-quoted securities effected through multiple approved trade execution platforms (Approved Market Operators or AMOs) to be accepted by ASX Clear and ASX Settlement (the ASX Clearing and Settlement Facilities) for clearing and settlement in an identical fashion to trades executed on ASX's cash equity market.

The Trade Acceptance Service is provided by the ASX Clearing and Settlement Facilities directly to AMOs. The Trade Acceptance Service is to be distinguished from the post-trade processing services which the ASX Clearing and Settlement Facilities provide to participants in those facilities in respect of transactions accepted by the facilities for clearing and settlement (Clearing and Settlement Services) and is illustrated below.

Novation

Market transactions executed through an AMO that are eligible for registration and novation in accordance with the operating rules of ASX Clear will be registered and novated with effect from the time of trade execution (that is, immediately after matching of bids and offers on the trading platform). This is the same basis on which trades executed on ASX’s market are registered and novated by ASX Clear. Any delay in trade processing through the TAS will not affect the level of counterparty risk mitigation provided to market users by ASX Clear as the central counterparty. In the event a technical outage results in an extended delay to trade processing, ASX Clear will provide market updates at the time (refer to the Market Communication Protocol in the Reference Material below).

Trade Acceptance Service: contractual framework

The ASX Clearing and Settlement Facilities make the Trade Acceptance Service available to AMOs under a published set of contractual terms of service (Legal Terms of Service) and fees as published in the Clearing and Settlement Schedule of Fees – available here.

The Legal Terms of Service contain the general contractual terms of the Trade Acceptance Service:

Additionally, the ASX Clearing and Settlement Facilities have promulgated under the Legal Terms of Service:

operational and technical standards: these standards set the basic parameters of trade acceptability and specify other technical and operational requirements applicable to AMOs that acquire the Trade Acceptance Service; and
information handling standard: this standard deals with the disclosure and use of information provided by AMOs to the ASX group in connection with the provision of the Trade Acceptance Service.

The current service arrangements and latest versions of the legal terms and related documents are available from the Services for Approved Market Operators web page.

The legal framework for the provision of the Trade Acceptance Service is illustrated below:

Registration of Interest

The ASX Clearing and Settlement Facilities seek to directly engage in a fair and equitable way with all potential Market Operators, clearing and settlement participants and other stakeholders on the implementation of the Trade Acceptance Service. If you wish to register an interest in being provided with the Trade Acceptance Service, please contact Karen Webb, Senior Manager, Issuer Services.