Fees

SwapClear Client Clearing fees under the SwapClear Client Clearing service are charged to the clearing member under a choice of two pricing plans.

 

Standard Pricing Plan

The Standard Pricing Plan has an up-front booking fee and an ongoing maintenance fee.

Booking fee

New trades are charged on a per-million notional basis in the currency of the trade as set out in the table below. The booking fee is incurred at the time that the trade is cleared and collected monthly in arrears.

The fees for the clearing of non-deliverable interest rate swaps (NDIRS) are payable in USD.

 

Maintenance fee

The maintenance fee is incurred annually on the anniversary date of the registration of each trade, collected monthly in arrears and is not payable for trades terminated before their anniversary date. The fee is charged on a per-million notional basis in the currency of the trade as follows:

• Interest rate swaps and NDIRS: 3 per-million of notional (e.g. $30 for $10 million notional)
• Inflation swaps: 12 per-million of notional (e.g €60 for €5 million of notional)

The maintenance fee is reduced to 4.5 per-million of notional in perpetuity for all inflation swaps cleared or backloaded within one year of service go-live.

The fees for the clearing of NDIRS are payable in USD.

 

High Turnover Plan

The High Turnover Plan incurs an up-front booking fee and an on-going "risk consumption" maintenance fee.

Booking fee

The booking fee is incurred upon trade registration and payable monthly in arrears as follows:

• Interest rate swaps and NDIRS: USD $25 per ticket booking fee for each newly registered and backloaded trade, charged upfront
• Inflation swaps: USD $37.5 for each newly registered and backloaded trade

 

Maintenance fee

The ongoing “risk consumption fee” is calculated at 10 basis points annualised on the client's initial margin (IM) requirement (regardless of type of collateral used to cover IM). It is calculated daily and paid monthly in arrears – equivalent to $1,000 per $1 million (annualised) of IM (e.g. an average IM of $50 million equals an annual risk consumption fee of $50,000)

 

Blended Rate and Multilateral Compression Fee Schedule for SwapClear clients

For each trade terminated from blended rate compression or multilateral compression, the following fees apply:

• Per trade terminated = (a) Registration replacement fee + (b) Processing fee
• Registration replacement fee is a charge for booking a notional offsetting position based on the client’s current fee plan at the point of compression (e.g. $25 for High Turnover plan and the published schedule for Standard Pricing Plan)
• Processing fee will be discounted based on the aggregate monthly sum of: cleared trades and trades compressed using blended rate, standard, and multilateral compression.  The following processing fees will apply by compression type:

 

The applicable band will be assessed on a quarterly basis based on the preceding quarter’s activity. Replacement swaps (i.e. those that are the result of the blending activity or multilateral compression activity) are not charged a blended rate or multilateral compression fee.

 

EMIR account structures

There is more information on account structure fees under EMIR.

 

Messaging Services Fees

• A fee will apply for Messaging Services as set out below

 

ATSS Synchronisation

• A ‘message’ is constituted as an FpML message sent from LCH to an Approved Trade Source System via the ATSS Synchronisation service
• A fee will only apply for messages sent in relation to SwapClear Compression or Portfolio Transfers

 

ClearConnect Fees

• A fee of £2 will be payable per message sent via the ClearConnect service

• A ‘message’ is constituted as an FpML message sent from LCH to an Approved Trade Source System via the ClearConnect service, or to a SwapClear Clearing Member or SwapClear Clearing Client via the ClearConnect API service

 

USD LIBOR Fallback Fees

Effective 31st January 2023, LCH will apply a monthly Fallback Fee for outstanding USD LIBOR contracts which have a maturity date after the USD LIBOR cessation date of 30th June 2023, as of the last business day of that month.

Fee per outstanding SwapClear Contract:

Further details can be found in circular 4217.

 

• FRAs will not be subject to Fallback Fees
• Any LIBOR-LIBOR basis swaps that may be voluntarily split into two interest rate swaps by LCH prior to a conversion cycle will not be charged twice
• 'SwapClear Contract' includes an 'FCM SwapClear Contract'

 

SGD SOR & THB THBFIX Fallback Fees

Effective 31st March 2023, LCH will apply a monthly Fallback Fee for outstanding SGD SOR and THB THBFIX contracts which have a maturity date after the benchmarks’ cessation date of 30th June 2023, as of the last business day of that month. 

Fee per outstanding SwapClear Contract:

Further details can be found in circular 4248.

 

• 'SwapClear Contract' includes an 'FCM SwapClear Contract'

 

Conversion Fees

LCH will apply a conversion fee to client SwapClear Contracts which are converted by the LCH conversion tool.

Fee Amount:

Further details on the USD LIBOR conversion fees can be found in circular 4217.

Further details on the SGD SOR and THB THBFIX conversion fees can be found in circular 4248.

• Any LIBOR-LIBOR basis swaps that are voluntarily split into two interest rate swaps by LCH prior to conversion will be treated as two separate swaps from the point of splitting. As such, any outstanding LIBOR contracts what may have arisen from a basis swap splitting event will be charged separately if included in a conversion cycle
• 'SwapClear Contract' includes an 'FCM SwapClear Contract'

 

SwapClear charges all fees to clearing members; members individually make pricing arrangements with clients and confidentially notify SwapClear of the pricing plan for each client. Clients can switch pricing plans quarterly, and must give SwapClear reasonable advance notice to make the operational changes necessary to effectuate such a change, i.e. no fewer than fifteen (15) days prior to a calendar quarter.

SwapClear Self-Clearing Fees

A single tariff is applied to a SwapClear Clearing Member in relation to all contracts cleared by that Member and any Member of or Affiliated Firm of its Member Group, either for their own account or with respect to a SwapClear Dealer, within a calendar year. Separate fees are payable for contracts cleared with respect to a SwapClear Clearing Client or an FCM Client.

A "New SwapClear Clearing Member", being a Member that is not part of an existing Member Group, should notify LCH of its preferred tariff when joining the SwapClear service and whether it wishes to elect to clear inflation swaps and/or non-deliverable interest rate swaps ("NDIRS").

New SwapClear Clearing Members qualify for a waiver of the applicable booking fee for the first 1500 backloaded trades (excluding inflation Swaps and NDIRS) that are registered for clearing, for a period of up to 12 months from go-live. A New SwapClear Clearing Member joining the service will be billed the first fixed tariff instalment in the month after member go-live.

The Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum tariff described below apply to the clearing of core interest rate contracts and do not include inflation swaps or NDIRS (unless stated otherwise).

 

The Bronze tariff

• Under the Bronze Tariff a Member Group is charged £500,000 in equal monthly instalments of £41,667, plus a £75 per contract booking fee and a £6 per existing contract maintenance fee per month.
• A Bronze Member Group that does not reach the Bronze Tariff fee cap of £1,500,000 within the calendar year will begin the following year on the Bronze Tariff.
• Where a Member Group's total fees incurred by that Member Group reach £1,500,000 in any calendar year then no further fees are payable for the remainder of that year unless more than 20,000 contracts are cleared, in which case a booking fee of £75 per contract will be applied and the Member Group will begin the following year on the Silver Tariff.
• If a Member Group clears more than 20,000 contracts and the total fees incurred in any calendar year reach £2,250,000 then no further fees are payable for the remainder of that year and the Member Group will begin the following year on the Gold Tariff.
• A Bronze Tariff Member Group can at any time elect to move to an alternative tariff to commence the following year.
• The clearing of inflation swaps is charged in accordance with the regular inflation swaps pricing plan.
• The clearing of NDIRS is charged in accordance with the regular NDIRS pricing plan.

 

The Silver tariff

• The Silver Tariff of £1,500,000 per year is designed for a Member Group which is expected to clear less than 30,000 contracts per year.
• No booking fee or maintenance fee is applied to the first 20,000 contracts cleared in a calendar year for a Member Group on the Silver Tariff.
• Cleared contracts in excess of 20,000 in one calendar year incur a booking fee of £75 per contract but no maintenance fee.
• Fees are collected in equal instalments of £125,000 plus any booking fees (where applicable) monthly in arrears.
• Member Groups using the Silver Tariff will have a fee cap of £2,250,000 in any calendar year, equating to 30,000 cleared contracts annually. Where the fees payable in relation to a Member Group reach £2,250,000 in any calendar year then no further fees are payable that year and the Member Group will automatically be invoiced at the Gold Tariff for the following year.
• A Silver Tariff Member Group can at any time elect to move to the Gold Tariff or Platinum Tariff to commence the following year.
• The clearing of inflation swaps is charged in accordance with the regular inflation swaps pricing plan.
• The clearing of NDIRS is charged in accordance with the regular NDIRS pricing plan.

 

The Gold tariff

• The Gold Tariff of £2,250,000 per year is designed for a Member Group that is expected to clear 30,000 contracts or more per year. A Gold Tariff Member Group can at any time elect to move to the Platinum Tariff to commence the following year.
• Member Groups are charged a flat monthly fee of £187,500 payable in arrears. No booking or maintenance fees are payable.
• The clearing of inflation swaps is charged in accordance with the regular inflation swaps pricing plan.
• The clearing of NDIRS is charged in accordance with the regular NDIRS pricing plan.
• A Gold Tariff Member Group that reaches the inflation fee cap as per the regular inflation swaps pricing plan in a calendar year, and has opted for Plan A of the regular NDIRS pricing plan, will automatically be invoiced at the Platinum Tariff for the following year.

 

The Platinum tariff

• The Platinum Tariff of £2,900,000 per year is designed for a Member Group that is expected to clear 30,000 contracts or more per year, together with a substantial number of inflation swaps and NDIRS volumes.
• Member Groups are charged a flat monthly fee of £241,666 payable in arrears. No booking or maintenance fees are payable.
• There are no additional fees for the clearing of inflation swaps and NDIRS.

The revision to the Platinum tariff applicable from 1 April 2020 is detailed in circular No. 4082, which can be found here.

 

Inflation swaps – regular pricing plan

• A Member Group may clear up to 200 inflation swap contracts each calendar year for a fee of £30,000. Cleared contracts in excess of 200 in one calendar year incur a booking fee of £120 per trade.
• Inflation swaps contracts incur a maintenance fee of £12 per trade per month.
• The £30,000 fee is due in February each year and is payable by all SwapClear Clearing Members (including FCM Clearing Members) that clear an inflation swap contract in the calendar year or have any live inflation swaps contracts as at the 1st January in each calendar year. All other clearing fees for inflation swaps are payable monthly in arrears.
• Where a Member Group's total clearing fees incurred by that Member Group for the clearing of inflation swaps contracts reaches £400,000 in any calendar year then no further fees are payable for the clearing of inflation swaps for the remainder of that year and that Member Group will automatically be invoiced £400,000 in the following year.
• A Member Group that commences clearing inflation swaps contracts during a calendar year will have its fees pro-rated for that calendar year.
• The inflation swaps regular pricing plan does not apply to a Member Group invoiced as per the Platinum tariff.

The revision to the Inflation Cap applicable from 1 April 2020 is detailed in circular No. 4082, which can be found here.

 

Non-deliverable interest rate swaps (NDIRS) - regular pricing plan

A SwapClear Clearing Member or Member Group that has elected the Bronze Tariff, the Silver Tariff or Gold Tariff that wishes to clear trades that are NDIRS may choose either of the following plans:

 

Plan A

• For an annual fee of £250,000 a SwapClear Clearing Member or Member Group may clear an unlimited amount of NDIRS denominated in the following currencies: KRW, INR, CNY, BRL, CLP, COP, THB and TWD.

 

Plan B 

• A SwapClear Clearing Member or Member Group may clear a NDIRS trade for a £75 registration fee plus a monthly maintenance fee of £6 per open trade that is a NDIRS.

 

NDIRS regular pricing plan Notes:

• A SwapClear Clearing Member or Member Group that is not currently clearing NDIRS will have the option to elect Plan A or B as part of the NDIRS on-boarding process.  Plan A will be invoiced as a pro-rated amount if on-boarding after the 1st January of a given year.
• A SwapClear Clearing Member or Member Group will be automatically enrolled in their current NDIRS Fee Plan unless they instruct LCH otherwise by the 1st January of a given year.
• Fee Plans cannot be amended or altered during a given calendar year.
• The NDIRS regular pricing plan does not apply to a Member group invoiced as per the Platinum tariff.

 

Onboarding fees

There is a one-off on boarding fee of £50,000 for each new SwapClear Dealer or Affiliate which is a member of, or an Affiliated Firm of, a Member Group.

 

Clearing Fees - Notes

A "Member Group" means a SwapClear Clearing Member or an FCM Clearing Member, its direct and indirect subsidiaries and its direct and indirect holding companies and every direct and indirect subsidiary of each such holding company, from time to time. For the purposes of this definition: (i) ‘subsidiary' means a company in which an entity holds more than 50% of the voting rights; and (ii) ‘holding company' means a company that holds more than 50% of the voting rights in another entity.

An "Affiliated Firm" in relation to a Member Group means a firm that satisfies both of the following tests:

• A SwapClear Clearing Member or a FCM Clearing Member (or any other member of its Member Group) holds 50% or more of the voting rights in the firm; and
• One or more SwapClear Clearing Members or FCM Clearing Members (or any other member of their Member Group) together hold more than 50% of the voting rights in the firm.

 

"Voting rights" means the rights conferred on shareholders in respect of their shares or, in the case of a company not having a share capital, on members, to vote at general meetings of the company on all, or substantially all, matters.

Changes in an entity's corporate ownership may lead to changes in the tariff that applies to it.

Terms used herein are as defined in the rulebook of LCH.

All clearing fees are payable in GBP.

If you would like to discuss LCH tariffs please contact your relationship manager for further details.

 

SwapClear Compression Fees

Scheduled Compression

• Risk replacement trades resulting from a compression run will not attract a registration fee (where applicable).
• Any ACSP provider fees are payable in addition to the LCH fees.

 

SwapClear Portfolio Transfer Fees

• A fee is payable by a SwapClear Clearing Member which receives a Portfolio Transfer.
• A Member Group is entitled to 500 Portfolio Transfer trades in a calendar year free of charge.
• Each Portfolio Transfer is charged at £12.50 per Contract that is transferred.
• Fees for portfolio Transfers are capped at £300k per Member Group in any calendar year.

For the purposes of this section a “Portfolio Transfer” means:

• The transfer of SwapClear Contracts or FCM SwapClear Contracts registered to the Proprietary Account of one SwapClear Clearing Member to the Proprietary Account of another SwapClear Clearing Member.
• The transfer of SwapClear Contracts registered in a SwapClear Clearing Member’s Proprietary Account from one SCM Branch to another SCM Branch or one SwapClear Dealer to another SwapClear Dealer.

 

Compression and Portfolio Transfer Fees - Notes

• Fees will be charged on a ‘per group' basis in line with LCHs Membership Fee Policy.
• Fees will be collected monthly in arrears.
• The fee structure is independent of any fees Clearing Members may be charged by an ACSP for their compression services.
• Ad-hoc compression runs will be carried out in LCH’s sole discretion.
• For the purposes of the above, a ‘trade’ means a SwapClear Contract or FCM SwapClear Contract, as applicable. References to SwapClear Clearing Members shall include FCM Clearing Members, as applicable.
• Terms used above and not defined above have the meaning assigned to them in the Rulebook or FCM Rulebook of LCH, as applicable.

 

Messaging Services Fees

• A fee will apply for Messaging Services as set out below

 

ATSS Synchronisation

• A ‘message’ is constituted as an FpML message sent from LCH to an Approved Trade Source System via the ATSS Synchronisation service
• A fee will only apply for messages sent in relation to SwapClear Compression or Portfolio Transfers

 

ClearConnect Fees

• A fee of £2 will be payable per message sent via the ClearConnect service
• A ‘message’ is constituted as an FpML message sent from LCH to an Approved Trade Source System via the ClearConnect service, or to a SwapClear Clearing Member or SwapClear Clearing Client via the ClearConnect API service

 

USD LIBOR Fallback Fees

Effective 31st January 2023, LCH will apply a monthly Fallback Fee for outstanding USD LIBOR contracts which have a maturity date after the USD LIBOR cessation date of 30th June 2023, as of the last business day of that month.

Fee per outstanding contract:

Further details can be found in circular 4217.

 

• FRAs will not be subject to Fallback Fees
• Any LIBOR-LIBOR basis swaps that may be voluntarily split into two interest rate swaps by LCH prior to a conversion cycle will not be charged twice
• 'SwapClear Contract' includes an 'FCM SwapClear Contract'

 

SGD SOR & THB THBFIX Fallback Fees

Effective 31st March 2023, LCH will apply a monthly Fallback Fee for outstanding SGD SOR and THB THBFIX contracts which have a maturity date after the benchmarks’ cessation date of 30th June 2023, as of the last business day of that month. 

Fee per outstanding SwapClear Contract:

Further details can be found in circular 4248.

 

• 'SwapClear Contract' includes an 'FCM SwapClear Contract'

 

Conversion Fees

LCH will apply a conversion fee to SwapClear Clearing Member House SwapClear Contracts which are converted by the LCH conversion tool.

Fee Amount:

A cap will apply in 2023 for all SwapClear Clearing Member House accounts as follows. Note, this cap applies across Conversion Fees only.

Further details on the USD LIBOR conversion fees can be found in circular 4217.

Further details on the SGD SOR and THB THBFIX conversion fees can be found in circular 4248.

 

• Any LIBOR-LIBOR basis swaps that are voluntarily split into two interest rate swaps by LCH prior to conversion will be treated as two separate swaps from the point of splitting. As such, any outstanding LIBOR contracts that may have arisen from a basis swaps splitting event will be charged separately if included in a conversion cycle

In accordance with the below schedule, Index fees will be payable by a SwapClear Clearing Member (including an FCM Clearing Member) for each new trade registered in their name, which references the ICE LIBOR* index: 

This fee is a straight pass through of the fees charged to LCH Ltd by ICE Benchmark Administration Limited.

 

• The above fee will not apply to SwapClear Contracts that result from a Position Transfer or a compression run effected by the Clearing House.
• The above fee will be calculated and invoiced monthly in arrears to SwapClear Clearing Members, in the currency of the trade.

*ICE LIBOR is a trademark of ICE Benchmark Administration Limited.

In accordance with the below schedule, index fees will be payable by a SwapClear Clearing Member or an FCM Clearing Member (each, a “Member”) for each new trade registered in their name, which references the Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield (“BSBY”)* index provided by Bloomberg Index Services Limited (“BISL”) (each such trade, a “BSBY Trade”).

 

Client Clearing Fees - Standard Pricing Plan

Where a Member is subject to the standard pricing plan for trades it clears with respect to a SwapClear Clearing Client or an FCM Client, LCH will charge the Member the following additional fee for each such trade that is a BSBY Trade on a per-million notional basis, in USD.

In addition, a Member will pay a maintenance fee equal to 5% of any maintenance fees it incurs under the standard pricing plan, in respect of BSBY Trades registered in its name. These fees are payable in USD.

 

Client Clearing Fees - High Turnover Plan

Where a Member is subject to the high turnover plan for trades it clears with respect to a SwapClear Clearing Client or an FCM Client, LCH will charge it an additional fee of USD $1.25 for each such trade that is a BSBY Trade.

 

 

Member Fees

Where a Member is subject to one of the following tariffs for trades it clears for its own account or with respect to a SwapClear Dealer, then LCH will charge the Member the following additional fees, in respect of such tariff and such trades.  

 

The BSBY fees will not apply to SwapClear Contracts or FCM Contracts that result from a position transfer or a compression run effected by the Clearing House.

The BSBY fees will be calculated and invoiced monthly in arrears to SwapClear Clearing Members and FCM Clearing Members, in the currency in which the fees are incurred.

* BLOOMBERG, BLOOMBERG INDICES and BLOOMBERG SHORT-TERM BANK YIELD INDEX are trademarks or service marks of Bloomberg Finance L.P and its affiliates (collectively, "Bloomberg") and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by LCH Group. Bloomberg is not affiliated with LCH Group and does not approve, endorse, review, or recommend any financial instrument. Bloomberg or its licensors own all proprietary rights in the Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield Index. Bloomberg does not guarantee the timeliness, accurateness, or completeness of any data or information relating to Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield Index**. Bloomberg makes no warranty, express or implied, as to the Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield Index or any data or values relating thereto or results to be obtained therefrom, and expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect thereto. To the maximum extent allowed by law, Bloomberg, its licensors, and its and their respective employees, contractors, agents, suppliers, and vendors shall have no liability or responsibility whatsoever for any injury or damages - whether direct, indirect, consequential, incidental, punitive, or otherwise - arising in connection with the Bloomberg Short Term Bank Yield Index or any data or values relating thereto - whether arising from their negligence or otherwise. 

**https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/product/indices/bsby/

A copy of the BISL licence for use of the BSBY index is located at BSBY-Web-Terms.pdf (bbhub.io).

The BSBY index is not available for use under Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016, as it has become retained EU law and effective in the United Kingdom under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and as it is amended (the “UK BMR”).The index will only be available for use as a benchmark in the United Kingdom following an announcement by BISL that the index is ready for launch in the United Kingdom market in compliance with the UK BMR.