The Japan Securities Clearing Corporation, the clearinghouse owned by the Japan Exchange, has extended the availability of its cross-margining service to customers. In January the clearinghouse began offering cross-margining of interest rate swaps and futures on Japanese government bonds, which can reduce the amount of margin required if the positions have offsetting risks. Previously, cross-margining was limited to JSCC members and their affiliates.
The clearinghouse also introduced a process for clearing "package trades" such as spreads and butterflies. Rather than requiring margin for each leg of the trade, JSCC will calculate margin requirements based on the net risk of the transaction as a whole.
