On the rise: More buy side firms explore self-clearing
15 September 2025 UK
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control of margin and clearing operations, with a rising number exploring or adopting self-clearing, says Acuiti report.
Released in partnership with FIS, the 鈥楳argin Management and the Rise of Self-Clearing鈥� report reveals how regulatory changes, market conditions, cost pressures, and advances in technology are reshaping how these firms approach post-trade operations across global derivatives markets.
The report, based on a survey and interviews with 64 senior executives from buy side institutions and proprietary trading firms, found that self-clearing is likely to become more common.
According to Acuiti, the rise of self-clearing on select markets by small numbers of larger hedge funds and trading firms has already been established as a notable trend over the past five years.
Overall, 44 per cent of firms that took part in the study were open to self-clearing in the future, largely driven by the US 麻豆传媒 and Exchange Commission鈥檚 (SEC鈥檚) treasury clearing mandate in the US 鈥� a factor cited by 75 per cent of respondents as an important consideration in their evaluation of self-clearing.
Commenting on the report, Ross Lancaster, Acuiti鈥檚 head of research, states: 鈥淲ith the US Treasury clearing mandate acting as a catalyst, we expect the self-clearing trend to accelerate further over the next five years, although the number of exchanges that firms self-clear on is likely to remain limited.
鈥淎s firms review their technology and operational requirements to self-clear, we expect more to explore business-process-as-a-service (BPaaS) options to reduce the barriers to entry.鈥�
The report also found that 69 per cent of respondents had taken increased control over margin calculations and payments in the past five years.
Driven by volatile markets, this has led to significant, and often unexpected, margin calls. As a result, firms are seeking to gain greater visibility and control over margin.
While larger firms have already invested in dedicated margin desks and advanced modelling tools, many smaller firms are looking to bring in technology that will provide greater visibility of margin requirements.
Meanwhile, the report finds that the shift towards cloud-based hosting of technology continues to gain momentum, with almost 40 per cent of firms now hosting core post-trade and risk management functions in the cloud to enhance scalability and data analytics.
Discussing the report findings, Markus Schmitz, head of cleared derivatives at FIS, says: 鈥淭his research we鈥檝e built in partnership with Acuiti is key for understanding how buy side and proprietary trading firms are evolving to solve for their regulatory and market headwinds.
鈥淗owever, there鈥檚 a second major takeaway in the findings, and that is the discussion of how they will get there.
鈥淔irms looking to take more control of operations like margin management and self-clearing will need to take a hard look at their tech stack, and cloud-based solutions are clearly going to be seen as key given the benefits gained in scalability and modularity.鈥�
Released in partnership with FIS, the 鈥楳argin Management and the Rise of Self-Clearing鈥� report reveals how regulatory changes, market conditions, cost pressures, and advances in technology are reshaping how these firms approach post-trade operations across global derivatives markets.
The report, based on a survey and interviews with 64 senior executives from buy side institutions and proprietary trading firms, found that self-clearing is likely to become more common.
According to Acuiti, the rise of self-clearing on select markets by small numbers of larger hedge funds and trading firms has already been established as a notable trend over the past five years.
Overall, 44 per cent of firms that took part in the study were open to self-clearing in the future, largely driven by the US 麻豆传媒 and Exchange Commission鈥檚 (SEC鈥檚) treasury clearing mandate in the US 鈥� a factor cited by 75 per cent of respondents as an important consideration in their evaluation of self-clearing.
Commenting on the report, Ross Lancaster, Acuiti鈥檚 head of research, states: 鈥淲ith the US Treasury clearing mandate acting as a catalyst, we expect the self-clearing trend to accelerate further over the next five years, although the number of exchanges that firms self-clear on is likely to remain limited.
鈥淎s firms review their technology and operational requirements to self-clear, we expect more to explore business-process-as-a-service (BPaaS) options to reduce the barriers to entry.鈥�
The report also found that 69 per cent of respondents had taken increased control over margin calculations and payments in the past five years.
Driven by volatile markets, this has led to significant, and often unexpected, margin calls. As a result, firms are seeking to gain greater visibility and control over margin.
While larger firms have already invested in dedicated margin desks and advanced modelling tools, many smaller firms are looking to bring in technology that will provide greater visibility of margin requirements.
Meanwhile, the report finds that the shift towards cloud-based hosting of technology continues to gain momentum, with almost 40 per cent of firms now hosting core post-trade and risk management functions in the cloud to enhance scalability and data analytics.
Discussing the report findings, Markus Schmitz, head of cleared derivatives at FIS, says: 鈥淭his research we鈥檝e built in partnership with Acuiti is key for understanding how buy side and proprietary trading firms are evolving to solve for their regulatory and market headwinds.
鈥淗owever, there鈥檚 a second major takeaway in the findings, and that is the discussion of how they will get there.
鈥淔irms looking to take more control of operations like margin management and self-clearing will need to take a hard look at their tech stack, and cloud-based solutions are clearly going to be seen as key given the benefits gained in scalability and modularity.鈥�
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