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SLMG 2007 Final Cover 10/9/07 11:54 am Page 1

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SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE

SECURITIES LENDING $20 - Americas


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MARKET GUIDE
2008

SHOWCASING SECURITIES LENDING

2008
INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL

INVESTOR
S ERVICES
JOURNAL
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investor
intelligence partnership
Project1 10/9/07 12:15 pm Page 2

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SLMG 2007 pp1-16 ML 10/9/07 11:08 am Page 1

INTRODUCTION

SECURITIES LENDING
MARKET GUIDE
2008

Fast times
It has been a year of great change for
the securities lending market
Welcome to the 2008 edition of ISJ’s annual rounding proxy voting’s relationship to securities
Securities Lending Market Guide. It has been a lending and the potentially negative influence of
busy year for securities lending and borrowing, and hedge funds have gained notoriety in the press.
there has been no shortage of press coverage sur- Hedge funds in particular, have faced increased
rounding the market and its potential in the future. scrutiny for allegedly borrowing to buy votes.
This guide aims to bring you up to speed with the The International Corporate Governance Network
latest market developments and act as a reference (ICGN), whose members include some of the
handbook to the particularities of this rapidly evolv- world’s largest pension funds, has publicly urged
ing business. regulators to force funds to make detailed disclo-
Our special feature examines the last 12 months in sures of sale and repurchase agreements. The
the market and what we can expect from the next ICGN has accordingly drawn up a code of best
year in terms of progress. The impact of hedge practice on stock lending in all jurisdictions and is
funds and 130/30 funds is of particular interest, as campaigning for the authorities to support it. Dr
they are the underlying cause of a large part of the Andrew Clearfield, member of the ICGN board of
growth that is happening in the securities lending governors, spoke to ISJ about his perspective on
market at the moment. Securities financing is the the matter for our special feature.
bridge between hedge funds, one of the main bor- The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive
rowers of stocks, and institutional investors such as (MiFID), due to be implemented on 1 November this
insurance companies, mutual funds and pension year, could also mean more scrutiny of lending pro-
funds, the dominant lenders of securities. grammes. It could potentially result in loans being
Furthermore, if you believe the hype, the growth of made based on price and best execution, rather than
traditional long only funds’ investment in 130/30 relationships, thus increasing the transparency of the
strategies could overtake the growth of hedge funds market as a whole.
and become the largest single driver of securities With these opportunities
lending over the next five years. and challenges in mind, we
The growth of the market is set to continue, have gathered together the
according to reports by a number of financial serv- leading lights of the securities
ices analyst firms. For example, Celent expects lending industry to provide
growth in the US securities lending market alone to you with a comprehensive
increase at a rate of 5% per year. insight into the market as it
However, it has not been smooth sailing for the stands today.
market over the last year, as industry practices sur- Virginie O’Shea
Group Editor
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Foreword Pan Asia Securities Lending Association

Asian perspective
The Pan Asia Securities Lending Association
(PASLA) has witnessed a year of great change
in the Asian markets, says Sunil Daswani

Securities borrowing and lending activity contin- Australia and Hong Kong have both seen lending
ues to expand in Asia and spans a range of levels flows expand dramatically over the last 12
of maturity, from Japan, which represents the sec- months; and the South Korean market has grown
ond largest securities borrowing and lending mar- rapidly during the five years in which securities
ket globally, through to Vietnam and Pakistan, in borrowing and lending has been permitted.
which it is still not permitted. Several other markets have made big strides for-
Testament to the degree to which lending vol- wards during the last 12 months in setting in
umes have increased in Asia (ex Japan) is that five place an efficient regulatory and infrastructure
to seven years ago, securities borrowing and lend- framework to support securities borrowing and
ing flows through Japan accounted for, on average, lending activity. The Philippines has made impor-
about 90% of participants' securities borrowing tant advances in this area - and the Philippines
and lending activity throughout the region. As Stock Exchange recently invited comment from

Japan was one of the first to establish a market in the region and this remains
substantially the largest market in terms of transaction flow
these flows in other markets have grown relative to PASLA members on its proposed regulations on
Japan, this figure has now fallen to roughly 50%. short selling, upon which it soft launched a securi-
To reflect this, a growing number of hedge ties borrowing and lending model in February of
funds have established offices in Asia - particular- this year. Malaysia has set securities borrowing
ly in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia - and and lending arrangements in place and is progres-
leading global prime brokers have extended their sively refining its operational procedures in close
presence in the region to support this activity. consultation with market participants. In India,
Three years ago, the hedge fund market in Asia the Securities and Exchange Board of India has
represented approximately USD250 billion out of put out discussion papers and it is hoped that it
a total USD1 trillion hedge fund market globally. will bring proposed laws on short selling and secu-
These ratios have remained broadly consistent rities borrowing and lending into line with interna-
during the subsequent period, with total hedge tional standards.
fund assets in Asia doubling to approximately PASLA has been working closely with regulators
USD500 billion, balanced against total global and with market participants in highlighting the
hedge fund assets of USD2 trillion. benefits of an active securities borrowing and
Looking at the development of Asia's securities lending market that is compliant with international
borrowing and lending markets more closely, best practice. This can serve as an important route
Japan was one of the first to establish a market in to international investment: foreign institutional
the region and this remains substantially the investors may be willing to allocate a larger per-
largest market in terms of transaction flow. centage of assets to more liquid markets that offer

2 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


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efficient price discovery mechanisms - and securi- Sunil Daswani is a director and the regional
ties borrowing and lending facilities can be key to manager for Securities Lending, Asia, at Northern
delivering this liquidity. Trust Global Investments. His primary
To facilitate the extension of a seamless and responsibility revolves around addressing and
transparent market, PASLA has been working with evaluating securities lending initiatives for lenders
regulators and market participants to identify and and borrowers where Northern Trust acts as an
address areas where a market's securities borrow- agent lender. Additionally he focuses on building
ing and lending procedures differ from internation- the supply of Asian assets for Northern Trust global
securities lending programme, ensuring that the
al best practice. We recognise that these changes

PASLA has been working closely with regulators and with market participants in
highlighting the benefits of an active securities borrowing and lending market that is
compliant with international best practice
due diligence is carried out when lending its clients
will not be achieved overnight - but our goal is to assets in each jurisdiction.
make securities borrowing and lending functions Daswani is responsible for maintaining updated
more streamlined and convenient for participants market information and knowledge through relation-
to use, thereby meeting the preconditions for lend- ships with regional contacts that may influence or
ing volumes to increase. shape the markets in which Northern Trust lend
As a culture of securities borrowing and lending securities. He has 14 years of experience in the
evolves in Asia, we note a tangible shift in levels securities industry, of which the last five have been
of educational awareness on both sides of the at Northern Trust.
relationship. In the past, lender clients would be In May 2005, Daswani accepted the position of
asking us to explain why it would make sense to chairman for PASLA for one year. He was
lend in a new market and to confirm that this re-elected in 2006 and 2007. In this role he
ensures that the fellow members are kept updated
would generate acceptable revenues to cover the
on key industry events, coordinating as an
risks involved. Now the tables have been industry where necessary responses to various
reversed, with lenders asking why they cannot international regulatory bodies on topical issues,
lend securities in certain markets - and to inquire discussion papers and general market issues
when necessary regulatory amendments will be that feedback may be required or further
passed to make this possible. clarification is sought.

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 3


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Foreword International Securities Lending Association

Broadening horizons
Laurence Marshall of the International
Securities Lending Association (ISLA)
highlights the growth the association has
seen over the last 12 months

Since the admission of borrowers to the association controversy over the last year. Our operational group
in 2004, membership has almost doubled and it will is producing a steady stream of best practice papers,
not be long before the numbers reach 100. It was covering all aspects of the back office.
becoming increasingly obvious that we could no In response to members’ demands, we have creat-
longer rely solely on the goodwill of individuals, each ed a New Markets group to help open up new mar-
with primary responsibility to their firms, to carry out kets and work with local exchanges and regulators to
the ever increasing workload. establish best practice from the outset. We will also
I am delighted therefore that the AGM unanimous- be establishing closer contact and dialogue with the
ly approved the board's proposals to expand the asso- regulators in established markets, as well as the
ciation's activities to provide full time support to the European Commission and CESR.
membership. We have been very fortunate to recruit I would encourage all firms who are involved in the

Our new constitution will allow us to take a much more proactive role in representing
our industry, not only in Europe and the Middle East, but globally

David Rule from the Bank of England as our first industry to join ISLA, whether as full members or
chief executive officer. His first priority will be to associates. Full details of our aims and objectives, as
recruit support staff and secure office premises in well as application forms, can be found at
the City. We expect the new infrastructure to be in www.isla.co.uk.
place by autumn.
Our new constitution will allow us to take a much Laurence Marshall is a managing director in Prime
more proactive role in representing our industry, not Brokerage Services with UBS Investment Bank,
only in Europe and the Middle East, but globally. London. He joined UBS in 1993 where he
Our major initiatives to date have included creat- established and managed the Securities Borrowing
ing a new class of membership, associates, to cater and Lending desk.
for those who support our industry, for example Marshall’s current area of responsibility is the
lawyers, accountants and software houses. I am management of the international supply business,
pleased therefore to report that we are receiving a
and is responsible for managing client relation-
steady flow of applications. We are working more
closely with our equivalents in Asia (PASLA) and the ships. He has represented UBS on various industry
United States (RMA) and we are conducting a review bodies and is currently chairman of the European
of the market standard legal agreement (the GMSLA). Equilend Board.
We will continue to rely heavily on our specialist Marshall was appointed ISLA chairman in May
sub-groups for which the contribution of time and 2007.
expertise by our members remains invaluable. Our The views and opinions expressed in this materi-
regulatory group has been spending a considerable al are those of the author and are not those of UBS
amount of time focusing on the large number of new AG, its subsidiaries or affiliate companies.
directives, which will culminate with the implementa- Accordingly, UBS does not accept any liability
tion of MiFID in November. Our governance group is over the content of this material or any claims,
determined to achieve a universally accepted code of losses or damages arising from the use or reliance
practice for voting, a topic which has produced much of all or any part thereof.

4 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


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Foreword Risk Management Association

Right here, right now


There seems no better place to be right now
than the securities lending industry, says
William Tredick McIntire of the Risk
Management Association (RMA)

From a volume perspective, in the first half of this borrow, EquiLend Dividend Compare and ARMS are
year, we’ve seen broad based growth in on-loan bal- tools that allow participants to increase volumes and
ances, with some lenders’ balances up more than reduce spreads.
40% versus the year earlier period. I think this The industry is not without its challenges, however.
reflects continued growth in demand from hedge I believe one of the major challenges we face is the
funds as well as 130/30 and other alternative invest- ongoing discussion surrounding corporate gover-
ment structures. Some industry watchers speculate nance, proxy voting and securities lending. RMA, the
that 130/30 could grow to be a USD1 trillion asset International Securities Lending Association (ISLA)
class over the next five years, from its current and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets
USD60-70 billion. That may be a bit optimistic; Association (SIFMA) have been vocal in responding
however, there is no doubt that this is an area that to misinformation in the press and taking steps to set
will experience significant growth. the record straight. A number of industry representa-
Away from the equity markets, some short demand tives have spoken at RMA conferences and have
for corporate bonds previously covered through a tra- directly engaged those who have criticised the indus-
ditional securities lending structure is now being sat- try. I believe the RMA Committee on Securities
isfied through the use of credit default swaps. In Lending has done an excellent job of disseminating
addition, we continue to see the use of equity swap information about existing regulations and safeguards
structures in markets that have not yet developed a that protect securities lending clients. However, there
traditional stock loan structure. is still more that needs to be done and we are pursu-
There is also a growing list of new markets in ing several agenda items. For one, RMA and SIFMA
which the borrowing and lending of stocks is begin- are providing seed money for a planned academic
ning to take hold. We’ve seen interest in Taiwan, study of ASTEC Consulting lending data. We hope
Malaysia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey, the results of this study will serve to substantiate our
Greece and Israel, all at different stages of develop- contention that securities lending has had no dis-
ment. I believe we’ll see revenue growth in these cernible impact on the outcome of important proxy
markets, where the spreads are wider and where vote situations.
hedge funds are looking for exposure. We’re also see- In addition to the proxy voting and corporate gover-
ing a contraction in the development cycle for these nance issue, the committee is also tackling some
markets, as countries work diligently and quickly to other issues affecting the securities lending industry.
put in place the necessary tax, legal and regulatory Among other initiatives planned is a salary survey for
frameworks for securities lending. member organisations, which we believe will be par-
Another important theme in the lending markets ticularly useful as a benchmarking tool. We are also
has been the ongoing move toward greater trans- in the very early planning stages of a Latin American
parency, although certain market participants have lending conference to be jointly sponsored with
not embraced products such as Lending Pit and SIFMA. We’re excited about the prospects for this
Performance Explorer. These products have improved conference, as we believe there are many beneficial
the price discovery process and provided objective owners in these markets who may be interested in
benchmarking information to beneficial owners. In learning more about lending.
addition, with the implementation of the Agency
Lending Disclosure initiative, borrowers’ credit William Tredick McIntire is president, Boston
departments have gained daily visibility into their bal- Global Advisors, and chairman of the RMA
ance with lenders. Committee on Securities Lending. He oversees the
The application of technology also continues to agent securities lending business of Goldman
play a role in the development of the securities Sachs in the US and Europe. He joined the busi-
finance market. With continued margin compression, ness in 1998, after spending the previous two
industry participants are looking to apply technology years as chief financial officer of the Equities
to streamline processes. Applications such as auto-
Division of Goldman Sachs.
6 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008
SLMG 2007 pp1-16 ML 10/9/07 11:09 am Page 7
SLMG 2007 pp1-16 ML 10/9/07 11:10 am Page 8

Contents

1 Introduction Securities Lending Market Guide 2008

2 PASLA Foreword The Asian perspective

4 ISLA Foreword Broadening horizons


6 RMA Foreword Right here, right now
10 Main Attraction Securities lending in the limelight

16 Statistics RMA data dissected


20 Panel Debate A panel of industry experts debate the issues
28 Ask the experts Practitioner perspectives
34 JPMorgan Now and the future
36 eSecLending An investment decision
38 SGSS If the shoe fits…
40 BBH MiFID and the market

42 RBC Dexia A new era beckons


44 COMIT Deep impact

46 Technology Panel How has the securities lending market been


affected by the advances in technology?
50 Guide A guide to the sec. lending of the market
66 FAQs Your questions answered

68 Fintuition Learning about securities lending

70 A-Z Those key terms in full


72 Profiles The details of securities lending service providers

8 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp1-16 ML 10/9/07 11:10 am Page 9

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SLMG 2007 pp1-16 ML 10/9/07 11:58 am Page 10

YEAR IN REVIEW

Main Attraction

of 15-20% to USD13.2 trillion. This year’s figures


Securities lending is no longer by Data Explorers indicate that the value on
loitering in the back office, loan in the spring was USD3.5 million. Analyst
firm Aite Group has estimated that the global
spurred on by an active hedge lendable asset market is USD16 trillion and the
fund community, it has now actual lending market is nearly USD4 trillion.
On an institutional level, the California Public
stepped into the custodial Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers), for
limelight. Virginie O’Shea example, indicated that it made USD150 million
from securities lending for the year ended 31
reflects on the last 12 months March 2007, an increase of 16%, from the year
in the market before. Moreover, according to figures by rival
analyst firm Celent, the market as a whole is
It has been another year of flux for the securities expected to increase annually at a rate of 5% in
lending market. Increased activity by hedge the US and 10% in Europe over the next two
funds and the search for alpha by the more tra- years. Good news, it seems, for all those
ditional players in the market has caused securi- involved in the market.
ties lending volumes to rise at a significant rate. Rob Coxon, head of International Securities
The high level of mergers and acquisitions has Lending at ABN AMRO Mellon Global
also acted as a catalyst to this growth. When Securities Services, adds: “The bottom line is
there is a lot of M&A activity, there is generally a the business has become much more com-
high level of borrowing for arbitrage going on moditised, there is spread compression but a
behind the scenes. lot more volume is being done.” Coxon believes
Since the end of 2003, the value of securities that demand for exclusive supply shows no sign
available for loan in the global market has of slowing down, although borrowers are being
grown at an estimated compound annual rate selective in how they bid. Emerging market

10 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp1-16 ML 10/9/07 11:10 am Page 11

lending is on increase, he adds, with the the pursuit of more complex investment strate-
demand for assets in esoteric markets –such as gies, have increased the demand for securities
Russia and India – growing. There is also an lending.
increased appetite by traditional long side Hedge funds and their appetite for securities
investors for short exposure, as demonstrated by driven through their prime brokers represent the
the deployment of 130/30 strategies and short biggest single source of demand in the market,
extension funds. says Coxon. This has been positive for the
Andy Clayton, head of securities lending for growth of securities lending, but the secrecy sur-
Europe Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, rounding the activities of these firms has led to
Northern Trust Global Investment, has also wit- some observers questioning their motivations.
nessed an increase in new market activity. “They are perceived to be driven by short term
“There is huge interest from clients who now opportunism, and this has been particularly evi-

The hedge funds’ active trading styles have increased the demand
for securities lending
have more exposure to emerging market man- dent in the sphere of corporate governance,” he
dates and from borrowers who see more hedge adds.
fund activity in these markets. Also, active exten- Although there has been a lot of growth, there
sion is the new buzzword in the industry as has also been a number of firms that have decid-
long/short strategies take hold, this has led to all ed to exit the securities lending market. Andrew
players analysing how they can leverage this Clearfield, president, Investment Initiatives and
trend to best effect.” chairman of the International Corporate
There has been some very successful liaison Governance Network (ICGN) Securities Lending
with market infrastructure providers and regula- Committee, explains: “It seems like the market is
tors in Asia in respect of opening markets for expanding strongly; my impression is that it has
securities lending, says Clayton. He expects that continued to grow. There have been a few major
the market will see the benefits of this period of exceptions to that in that there have been a cou-
consultation over the next few months. Also, he ple of public pension funds in the last 12
adds, the industry associations have led the way months, most notably Ontario Teachers’, that
with discussions with regulators regarding forth- have decided that lending wasn’t worth it
coming regulatory changes such as Basel II and because they were having such problems recall-
MiFID. “At this moment, it looks like the indus- ing in order to vote. They decided that as a
try will reach a position where it can successfully result of this, that the income they were getting
work within the new regulations without incur- from the lending wasn’t worth it. It was
ring huge additional cost to support wholesale announced loudly and publicly all over Canada.”
changes to practice,” he says. Clearfield continues: “I have had conversa-
Despite the recent decision by some invest- tions with some consultants and fund managers
ment banks to impose tougher lending terms on in the industry that have said that unless
hedge funds, their investment strategies are con- investors get a larger cut of lending, they will exit
tinuing to drive forward the growth of securities the market. The brokers currently get the lion’s
lending. The decision to raise margin require- share of the fees and the custodians and inter-
ments is a response to rising credit concerns mediaries get another significant share, although
about the impact of the funds on the wider it is much smaller than that of the brokers. The
financial market. Prime brokerage departments share that goes to the funds is so laughable that
at several investment banks are thus attempting it is hardly worth it for what they get. They are
to insure themselves against the possibility of essentially selling their votes for a few basis
new hedge fund collapses in the vein of the Bear points.”
Stearns’ funds last month. However, regardless It is not just the hedge funds that are proving
of these restrictions, the hedge funds’ active to be influential in this area. A large number of
trading styles, including the use of shorting and traditional fund managers are engaged in devel-

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 11


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YEAR IN REVIEW

oping absolute return strategies that require between the markets, both are experiencing a
them to go short and this is having a significant high level of growth in securities lending. Denise
impact on the growth of the securities lending Valentine, senior analyst at rival analyst firm Aite
market. The recent popularity of 130/30 funds, Group, explains: “The US market is a very
which effectively involve borrowing for short sell- mature market with a vast inventory of securi-
ing purposes, is testament to this trend. As part ties, and is growing at about 5%. However the
of a 130/30 fund strategy, fund managers run European market is growing at double this rate.”
short positions but remain 100% net invested by The 130/30 funds are not just driving forward
being 130% long of the over-performing stocks the growth of the securities lending market; they
and 30% short of the underperforming stocks. are also altering the participants’ service require-
These funds need stock loan accounts to ments. Fund managers that invest in these
receive the proceeds of the short sales and then funds require fully integrated securities lending,
augment the long positions without the need to borrowing and collateral management, as well as
borrow cash. In order to go short, these market the execution services to affect the initial short
participants must borrow securities. The 130/30 sale and subsequent buy back. Servicing there-
funds are seen as an attractive alternative to fore goes way beyond custody and fund account-
going long only as you are no longer so tied to ing. This requirement for execution services can
the ups and downs of the market and they thus prove an onerous task for those engaged in pro-
provide the ability to more consistently beat the viding securities lending and custodian banks
market. In fact, the funds are so popular at the are accordingly obliged to invest in systems to
moment that market commentators have specu- further integrate their processes.
lated that their growth may supersede the Valentine highlights the recent trends that she
growth in hedge funds over the next few years. believes have influenced the securities lending
This could, in turn, become one of the largest market: “The last 12 months have been about
drivers of securities lending over the next five to increased participation on electronic platforms
10 years. to some degree, the increasing use of securities
There is a slight difference between the lending as the capital markets continue to glob-
American and European model of borrowing for alise, and, finally, hedge funds and large institu-
130/30 funds. The US model involves borrowing tional money managers engaging in short sell-
and shorting in order to execute leverage, where- ing. In the case of the latter, 130/30 funds, which
as in Europe, the leverage is obtained through short securities, have been increasing signifi-
derivatives. This divergence in practice has come cantly as traditional money managers seek high-
about due to the fact that European regulators er investment returns and compete with hedge
do not support the shorting of physical securi- funds for institutional money.”
ties to obtain leverage. Despite the discrepancy Rather than a purely operational activity, secu-
rities lending is now considered to be an invest-
ment management discipline in its own right.
Furthermore, rather than automatically opting to
pass the activity to an institution’s custodian,
these traditionally dominant players are having
to compete for business with third party lenders
and electronic auction platforms. Institutions are
also increasingly using multiple providers across
different parts of their asset base, as beneficial
owners have unbundled the securities lending
function from the custody business.
Valentine adds: “There’s no shortage of partic-
ipants, including principal owners, custodian
banks, third party agents, broker-dealers, prime
brokers, investment banks, and hedge funds. Big
banks use securities lending for market making,
hedge funds often short the security for a strate-
gy play. Owners and lenders participate for prof-
its on the loan.”

12 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


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In the rush to gain market share, borrowers the borrower side of the business, as hedge
have sought alternative sources of supply, funds demand more information on where their
lenders have developed new routes to market true borrowing costs reside,” he explains.
and exchanges and brokers have developed elec- Northern Trust’s Clayton agrees:
tronic trading platforms. These trends have put “Transparency will not go away so we need to get
downward pressure on pricing and have forced used to living in the new environment. Market
custodians to seriously rethink their business participants will develop their game to play bet-
models. ter under the new rules and increased competi-
The rise of short selling has also raised the tion will result. It is critical that people consider-
profile of issues around fee transparency. The fee ing the data create a level playing field though –
paid by investors to borrow shares they want to with more information available there is
sell short has been notoriously difficult to fore- increased responsibility on the users to ensure
cast. Borrow supply is a key determinant to the they know what they are doing with the data oth-
level of fee paid but the exact calculation is more erwise they may make erroneous assumptions
often than not opaque. Fees for a 130/30 strategy and decisions.”

The 130/30 funds are not just driving forward the growth of the
securities lending market; they are also altering the participants’
service requirements
are higher than long only mandate fees in part Transparency has obviously had a direct
because the manager must go to a prime broker impact on technology spend, as has the increas-
to borrow securities to short. Hedge funds may ing complexity of customer requirements. Firms
be naturally more lenient with regards to trans- have to spend more on their systems in order to
parency, but the traditional asset managers now keep up with demand. The focus of securities
engaged in 130/30 funds are likely to demand lending technology has shifted from the back
increased fee transparency, which will then put office to the front office, says Valentine.
pressure on managers to reduce their fees. “Technology has advanced with electronic plat-
Valentine explains: “Improving transparency forms. By 2008, about 15-18% of securities lend-
has been one of the drivers of changes in recent ing will be done over an electronic platform.
months and that is an ongoing process. Given Examples of trading platforms include EquiLend,
the level of entrenched interests in this market, it eSecLending and SecFinex. Bloomberg instant
will not be an easy process to continue to build messaging continues to be a key method of
on some of the automation and transparency ini- communication for securities lending, and cer-
tiatives.” tainly old manual methods of phone and fax are
ABN AMRO Mellon’s Coxon adds: well entrenched, at least for initial order place-
“Accountability and automation are big themes – ment,” she elaborates.
there is much greater transparency today due to Overall, Valentine believes that the market is
the rise of industry consultants and independent fragmented in its use of technology: “General
benchmarking services like Astec and Data collateral and highly liquid security securities
Explorers. The market has traditionally been fairly lending is as old as the hills and these types of
opaque, with a strong emphasis on relation- securities lending are well suited for automation.
ships. While this still holds true, it is also the This has prompted more technology firms to
case that price and efficiency are becoming enter the market, around 2000. Specials, or hard
determining factors on where business is trans- to borrow securities lending, are complex: they’re
acted.” more profitable and still negotiated by phone.”
Transparency brings challenges, as beneficial The influence of technology has largely been
owners today are much more engaged and the negative, says ICGN’s Clearfield. For example,
degree of scrutiny has increased significantly, commingled accounts from the point of the view
and that additional scrutiny leads to greater com- of the custodian save a lot of money, but they
petition, adds Coxon. “Only those firms that run have made it difficult to track any kind of
accountable programmes can hope to survive in accountability with respect to individual posi-
the new environment. The same holds true on tions. “It is hard to tell if you have had a problem
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 13
SLMG 2007 pp1-16 ML 10/9/07 11:59 am Page 14

YEAR IN REVIEW

with over-voting if you don’t know whose shares Securities lending and its impact on proxy
went where – which shares in an omnibus voting policies and practices has long been the
account were actually lent out. That is a practice concern of the corporate governance industry,
that I predict is going to have to end. since, potentially, market participants can
Technology can have a strongly positive effect of acquire voting rights in a company without an
course, but so far, it hasn’t been used that way; accompanying financial stake. This separation
instead it’s all been about lowering costs and of economic from voting interest in a company
getting more paper out there,” he adds. bends one of the basic assumptions behind the
Coxon is much more positive about the one share, one vote principle, and places
impact of technology on the market: “Auctions, investors who retain the economic interest in a
and by extension auction platforms, have cer- challenging position. However, it seems that
tainly enjoyed a high profile recently. The emer- share lending has become a lucrative practice
gence of players such as eSecLending has creat- for many institutions.
ed more competition, particularly in respect of This year’s International Securities Lending
agency lending. That has shaken any compla- Association (ISLA) and Pan Asia Securities
cency there may have been out of the industry. Lending Association (PASLA) annual confer-
Certainly it is a great time to be a beneficial ences both covered the subject of proxy voting
owner – there is a good choice of suppliers, and share lending. Speakers stressed that
they enjoy pricing leverage and also have more recent press coverage about the practice of
options in terms of selecting the most appropri- hedge funds obtaining more votes than their

Auction platforms have enjoyed a high profile recently


ate route to market for any given portfolio. It is holdings in order to influence voting was vastly
critical in this environment that agent lenders exaggerated. Earlier in the year and in response
be able to offer a flexible platform that can offer to such an article in the Wall Street Journal,
a variety of entry points that reflect the multi- ISLA issued a statement that declared:
faceted nature of securities lending.” “Securities are rarely borrowed for the purpose
Clayton believes that because the whole mar- of influencing votes, and the cases in which bor-
ket has seen a big increase in volumes over the rowed shares can be shown to have influenced
last 12 months, it is important that all partici- a shareholder vote are rarer still.”
pants embrace technological solutions to insu- In the UK, borrowing shares solely for the
late themselves from the impact of this purpose of voting is contrary to the Securities
increase. SecFinex, EquiLend, ICap and Eurex Lending and Borrowing Code of Guidance,
are all illustrative of the demand in the market which was drawn up by ISLA to highlight good
to capitalise on inherent operational weakness practices for lenders and their agents. The secu-
and service a growing need to automate and rities lending contract has been designed to
drive down costs as volume explodes, Coxon allow lenders to continue to exercise their vot-
continues. However, with the exception of ing rights if they wish by giving them the right
Equilend, all of these platforms have enjoyed to recall equivalent securities from the borrower
either limited success or remain in their infancy, at any time, says ISLA.
he adds. Conversely, ICGN’s Clearfield feels that the
Regulation and industry best practices (or issue of vote selling is something that should
rather the lack of either) have also been impor- be dealt with immediately. One of the issues
tant discussion topics in the securities lending that the ICGN is focusing on is making trustees
industry over the last 12 months. The issue of aware of the fact that they are selling their votes
securities lending and proxy voting has recently cheaply, he explains. “The point of the 2005
garnered headlines, most notably the Securities code is insisting that trustees have guidelines
and Exchange Commission (SEC) has indicated down to make it clear to all their beneficiaries
an interest in the area and suggested further that they are sacrificing voting under certain cir-
research be carried out. cumstances, and what those circumstances are,

14 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp1-16 ML 10/9/07 11:59 am Page 15

as well as when they will not sacrifice their votes greater in Europe due to the complexity of the
for this reason,” he says. collateral that lenders exchange, the higher
“This is an ongoing engagement and we are number of disclosed lending programmes and
also talking to the issuers, who are also very the decentralised infrastructure.
concerned about the discrepancies in voting ISLA has formed a working group to tackle
(usually manifested by over-votes) and the fact the issue of agent lending disclosure with the
that a few funds have visibly shown up with long term objective of Europe achieving a level
empty votes and tried to influence meetings. of disclosure comparable to the US. The associ-
This is enough of a problem for these issuers to ation’s proposals for disclosure include the
get concerned. I am told that it has also come monthly provision of details regarding the
to the attention of the SEC. I know that it is a underlying counterparty, loaned securities and
concern of the World Federation of Exchanges, collateral. ISLA has indicated that it will be

We will see increased focus on the use of regulatory capital


over the next few months
as well as of the European Commission. They working with the industry over the next year to
are all looking at the copies of our code and, in further develop best practices in this area.
particular, two aspects that call upon issuers to Regulation in general has been an issue for
separate the record dates for voting from the the market over the last year. Clayton says: “I
record dates for entitlement to dividends, think regulation is having more of an impact
essentially eliminating the tax arbitrage, and across all of our businesses and securities lend-
also to make sure that the agenda is made ing is no exception. All elements of securities
known before any kind of deadline for recall. lending have been affected, whether it be
These are two things that issuers can do them- increased levels of information concerning our
selves that will possibly reduce the amount of business to allow counterparties to make the
shares out on loan before a crucial vote,” he right risk decisions, or ensuring that we have
elaborates. comprehensive policies and procedures to
Regardless of which party is right, the fact of prove best execution. Finally, all businesses
the matter is that the profile of the issue has should treat customers consistently, but the
been sufficiently raised for the regulators to take new Treating Customers Fairly directive has
notice. The UK Financial Services Authority and required a full examination of the business.”
the regulator in Hong Kong have indicated that The focus on regulation is also likely to con-
they are looking into issues regarding disclosure tinue for the next 12 months at least, Clayton
and SEC chairman Christopher Cox has ordered adds. “I think we will see increased focus on the
an internal study on the practices surrounding use of regulatory capital over the next few
proxy voting in the US. Moreover, according to a months as the impact of Basel II will ensure
global survey on securities lending by that participants pick the right products for the
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) earlier use of their capital. The counterparties that are
this year, most institutions do not have explicit used, indemnification required and the collater-
policies on securities lending relative to proxy al provided will all come under the microscope
voting, leaving them wide open for the regulato- in the next few months,” he explains.
ry community to suggest appropriate legislative Despite these compliance concerns, the
action. future of securities lending remains rosy.
Agent lender disclosure has also been a focus However, the key to maintaining and growing
for regulators over the last year. In the US this demand is to be flexible in your business and
has been driven directly by requirements issued listen to what clients and borrowers want and
by the SEC and the New York Stock Exchange communicate well with both, says Clayton.
(NYSE), whereas in Europe, the driver has been “This should ensure that you can continue to
the agency lending disclosure specifications match supply to demand by developing compli-
under Basel II. The scale of the problem is far mentary capabilities,” he concludes. SLMG

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 15


SLMG 2007 pp1-16 ML 10/9/07 11:10 am Page 16

S TATISTICS

Data Dissected
ISJ examines the RMA’s securities
lending market data for 2007

The Risk Management Association’s credit tiering and instrument types for
securities lending data covers the first both US dollar and euro currency col-
quarter of 2007. Survey data is present- lateral.
ed for primary lending markets world- The data has been collected by the
wide, with cash collateral reinvestment RMA frominstitutions including AIG,
data aggregated to reflect reinvestment Barclays Global Investors, Brown
return, interest rate sensitivity, liquidity, Brothers Harriman and JPMorgan.

Instrument types on loan in the first quarter 2007


As we can see from the chart, floating rate According to RMA figures, the total
instruments represented the largest amount of assets on loan has
percentage of instrument types on increased significantly over the
loan in the first quarter of 2007. last six years. Moreover, the
This is closely followed by fixed spread of instruments avail-
rate asset backed securities and able for borrowing and lend-
corporate collateral at invest- ing indicates that the mar-
ment grade A or higher. ket is mature and stable.
Also popular are US Treasuries All asset backed paper is
repo agreements, although included in the Asset Backed
these have declined since last Securities category and Other
year’s survey. Floating rate asset Vehicles includes all other
backed securities have also declined instruments that could not be
to some extent. categorised.

16 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:18 pm Page 17

RISK MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION SECURITIES LENDING COMPOSITE - Averages for


the period of Quarter 1 2007
Below is a table showing a year on year snapshot of the industry worldwide. Lendable assets refer to the value of
loanable securities. On loan versus cash collateral refers to the value of securities on loan in return for cash. On
loan versus non-cash collateral refers to the value of securities on loan in return for non-cash collateral.

LENDABLE ASSET ON LOAN vs CASH ON LOAN vs NON-CASH TOTAL ON TOTAL ON


US dollar $ ($m) COLLATERAL ($m) COLLATERAL ($m) LOAN ($m) LOAN (%)
North American Treasuries/Bonds $1,753,274 $548,952 $65,178 $614,130 35%
US Treasuries/UST Strips $471,880 $340,178 $56,777 $396,955 84%
US Agencies $202,088 $82,009 $6,726 $88,735 44%
US Mortgage Backed Securities $212,175 $48,884 $412 $49,296 23%
US Corporate Bonds $844,225 $74,714 $922 $75,636 9%
Canadian Bonds (Gov't & Corporates) $22,906 $3,167 $341 $3,508 15%

North American Equities $3,613,708 $314,011 $12,826 $326,837 9%


US Equities (includes ADR’s) $3,558,676 $309,364 $10,981 $320,345 9%
Canadian Equities $55,032 $4,647 $1,845 $6,492 12%

European Equities $1,274,195 $88,106 $39,401 $127,507 10%


French Equities $186,949 $30,132 $5,480 $35,612 19%
German Equities $158,512 $13,672 $4,678 $18,350 12%
Italian Equities $72,794 $9,120 $2,841 $11,961 16%
UK Equities $427,543 $3,354 $11,816 $15,170 4%
Scandinavian Equities $108,280 $10,974 $4,673 $15,647 14%
All Other European Equities $320,117 $20,854 $9,913 $30,767 10%

Pacific Rim Equities (Includes Australia) $616,818 $44,093 $19,269 $63,362 10%
Japanese Equities $353,467 $20,416 $10,734 $31,150 9%
Hong Kong Equities $60,881 $6,398 $1,599 $7,997 13%
Australia $113,914 $14,305 $4,874 $19,179 17%
All Other Pac-Rim Equities $88,556 $2,974 $2,062 $5,036 6%

All Other Equities (Not Previously Listed) $57,068 $4,115 $273 $4,388 8%
Total Equities (Aggregate Total) $5,561,789 $450,325 $71,769 $522,094 9%

Euro Denominated Sovereign Bonds $222,667 $14,689 $25,734 $40,423 18%


French Sovereign Bonds $51,958 $4,328 $6,309 $10,637 20%
German Sovereign Bonds $79,984 $6,301 $10,995 $17,296 22%
Italian Sovereign Bonds $39,924 $1,563 $6,928 $8,491 21%
Spanish Sovereign Bonds $11,628 $791 $577 $1,368 12%
All Other Euro Denominated Sovereign Bonds $39,173 $1,706 $925 $2,631 7%

UK Gilts $145,667 $8,946 $41,719 $50,665 35%


Emerging Market Eurobonds** $38,198 $8,441 $5,878 $14,319 37%
Eurobonds $281,105 $24,352 $4,096 $28,448 10%
All Other Sovereign Bonds † $89,577 $5,515 $81 $5,596 6%
Total Bonds (Aggregate Total, incl US) $2,530,488 $610,895 $142,686 $753,581 30%

TOTALS $8,092,277 $1,061,220 $214,455 $1,275,675 16%


Average Number of Lending Markets 19 *(Reported in Aggregate) **(Latin America & E Europe) †(Not Listed Above)

The Survey reflects data


provided by the Citibank The Northern Trust Company
following institutions: Frost National Bank PFPC Trust Company
Investors Bank & Trust Company US Bank
AIG Global Investment Corp JP Morgan Chase & Co. Union Bank of California
Barclays Global Investors M & I Global Securities Lending The Vanguard Group, Inc.
Boston Global Advisors Mellon Financial Corp. Wells Fargo Institutional Investments
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. MetLife Insurance Company Wachovia Global Securities Lending
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 17
SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:23 pm Page 18
SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:35 pm Page 19
SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 20

Securities Lending PANEL DEBATE

THE SECURITIES LENDING


PANEL DEBATE
Guy d’Albrand had been global head of liquidity management at Société
Générale since the autumn of 2004. He began his career as a futures broker
and then spent several years as an auditor at Société Générale He joined Fimat
to run the Tokyo office and was then appointed executive vice president of
Société Générale Securities, North Pacific. He then headed up the online bro-
kerage operations in Japan. In 2002, d’Albrand moved back to Société
Générale’s head office to become global head of audit for the Corporate and
Investment Banking Division of the bank.

Mark Fieldhouse serves as head, Technical Sales, Americas at RBC Dexia. His
team is responsible for overall growth and development of the Global Products
client base, as well as the product level management of its strategic clients
in North America. Global products include securities lending, foreign
exchange, cash management and portfolio management services. Fieldhouse
brings to his role 12 years experience in the Global Products environment.
Prior to heading up Technical Sales for the Americas, Fieldhouse served as
director, Technical Sales, Securities Lending. He has previously held a num-
ber of progressive positions within the securities lending business, with a
focus on client management and business development.

Paul Wilson is senior vice president and global head of Sales and Client
Management for Securities Lending and Execution Products (SLEP) for JPMorgan
Worldwide Securities Services (WSS). He is based in London. Wilson is responsi-
ble for new business development and initiation as well as client management
across the entire SLEP product range, which includes securities lending, foreign
exchange, transition management, futures and options clearing and commission
recapture within JPMorgan WSS. Additionally, Wilson is the SLEP regional busi-
ness executive for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. He joined Chase in
1984 and has carried out a number of roles within JPMorgan WSS including
product development, client services and operations.

Elizabeth Seidel is senior vice president, co-manager of Brown Brothers


Harriman Global Securities Lending. Seidel joined BBH in 1999 and was
recently appointed department co-manager for Global Securities Lending. In
her new role, Seidel has management responsibility for Relationship
Management, Risk Management, Sales, and Marketing groups. Seidel has
over 15 years experience in the industry, 11 of which involve securities lend-
ing. Prior to joining BBH, she worked at Boston Global Advisors and was in
charge of Client Service and at State Street Bank in their Securities Lending
Division in both Trading and Operations.

20 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 21

What are the main issues affecting the parency.


securities lending market this year? Wilson: New sources of supply continue to
come into the market via investors making their
d’Albrand: Supported by a strong overall global securities available for lending for the first time.
economy and high investor confidence, the While this is positive, it does tend to put down-
securities lending market continues to thrive, as ward pressure on fees in conjunction with the
it demonstrates an increase in liquidity and ever increasing competitiveness of the market.
market efficiency. As the practice gets more As a separate matter, there is continued debate
popular among beneficial owners, their and discussion regarding corporate governance
demands are on the rise and they expect higher and the impact of securities lending. Best prac-
performance and instantaneous churning out of tice remains where lenders and investors view
detailed reporting. Although considered general- each event and determine whether to keep secu-
ly low risk transactions, a key issue has been rities on loan and benefit from the fee or to

Supported by a strong overall global economy and high


investor confidence, the lending market continues to thrive, as
it demonstrates an increase in liquidity and market efficiency
risk management, which is resulting in a push recall the loan in time to vote the proxy.
for technological improvements to better man- On the tax front, we continue to see new cases
age associated market, operational and credit come before the European Courts of Justice
risks. Change within the compliance and regula- (ECJ), which point toward greater tax harmoni-
tory arena has also been a main focus, aiming sation across Europe. These cases should be
to better manage capital, as we can see with followed closely as they may have significant
such initiatives as Basel II, which is beneficial to implications for lenders and borrowers. And the
securities lending, as it will enable more precise buzz phrase of 2007 has been the 130/30 funds,
assessment of collateral quality and suitability. which are seeing traditional long only managers
launch funds that short up to 30% of the value
Fieldhouse: We see several major issues that of the fund and then invest the 30% short pro-
could have a significant impact on the securities ceeds to obtain a 130% total long position and a
lending industry this year. The first would be 30% short position. This should increase
Basel II, arguably the most important regulatory demand for securities borrowing and create new
initiative to have impacted securities lending in opportunities for service providers across the
the recent past. Basel II will mandate a very securities financing business.
structured risk management process. However,
as long as beneficial owners have the right risk Seidel: Over the past year, one of the issues that
framework and work with lending partners who we have seen heightened client awareness of is
have built a comprehensive risk model, there corporate governance and the need to vote
will be opportunities to benefit from higher utili- proxies. This has made invaluable the efficien-
sation and increased lending revenues. cies BBH has created through our securities
Institutional investors are also actively search- lending system infrastructure and recall
ing for better returns through the execution of process. We are not only able to recall securities
alpha-based strategies and seem willing to be in a timely manner for voting purposes, but can
much more aggressive with their investment actually flag those securities in advance of cor-
styles. The rise in popularity of hedge funds has porate events to ensure no opportunity is
galvanised the securities lending industry, with missed. Our clients seem to take great comfort
service providers and beneficial owners develop- in our streamlined approach. The down side of
ing new techniques to satisfy their exacting this trend in the industry, of course, is the
needs. Providers have been challenged to deliv- impact of recalls on income derived from lend-
er an integrated service offering, which not only ing, but our goal is to support our clients' prior-
maximises revenues but also simultaneously ities and broader investment objectives and to
manages risk and maintains operational trans- make lending as seamless to them as possible.
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 21
SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 22

Securities Lending PANEL DEBATE

works and more.


What impact is industry consolidation having
on the market? Wilson: In the short term, this should be mini-
mal. There are plenty of providers operating
d’Albrand: Industry consolidation, especially across all spectrums of the industry. Bank merg-
with the recent large American mergers, is ers are, of course, just one reason for consolida-
bringing all participants, large and small, to tion, but others factors such as the potential for
examine and redefine their business models greater tax harmonisation in Europe, possibly
and service offerings. Consolidation brings resulting in the erosion of the yield enhance-
complementary companies together, integrating ment transaction, could affect the profitability of
traditional functions, such as fixed income and some providers and cause them to either merge
equity lending. Securities lending desks are or reconsider their position in the business. But

New sources of supply continue to come into the market via


investors making their securities available for lending for the
first time. While this is positive, it does tend to put downward
pressure on fees in conjunction with the ever increasing
competitiveness of the market
becoming one stop shops and we shall see how at this time, for investors and beneficial owners,
these new global entities will do in terms of cus- there is plenty of choice in providers and routes
tomer satisfaction. In this highly competitive to market, and that is healthy for the industry.
market, beneficial owners want to maximise Seidel: Strategically, we are encouraged with this
their portfolios, but it may not always be in their further consolidation in our industry and believe
best interest to be part of a pool, with longer that there is ample space for BBH and much
queues and possible lower utilisation rates. larger asset service firms to coexist in the cur-
Credit issues also arise, since an increase in rent industry environment and pursue their
lendable securities does not necessarily mean respective strategies. In the securities lending
an increased credit limit for each counterparty, industry, beneficial owners who are clients of an
potentially reducing market liquidity. In this acquired financial institution may find them-
tight market, barriers to entry are tough, howev- selves part of a new lending program with a dif-
er, small players have their own niche, focused ferent profile than the one they originally chose,
on their specific expertise, performance, tech- triggering an evaluation of whether the new pro-
nology, risk management and client relation- gramme aligns with their objectives. In some
ships. cases, consolidation may be the catalyst for new
opportunities for both beneficial owners and
Fieldhouse: While consolidation is reducing the lenders depending on the results of those evalu-
total number of players in the market, we con- ations.
tend that under the right circumstances, it can We distinguish BBH through continuity, high
help contribute to a higher overall quality of quality service, integrity, and relationship excel-
securities lending providers. What you’re seeing lence. We operate as a flat, agile organisation
as a result of ongoing consolidation is a reduc- providing comprehensive solutions for our
tion in the number of regional players, but an clients that help them meet their business
increase in the number of truly global opera- objectives. BBH remains uniquely client-centric
tions. The implications of this trend are quite and committed to continuing to grow organical-
positive for the client organisations, as they are ly by pursuing a select group of clients that
positioned to benefit from everything those value our focused strategy and client service
global shops have to provide, including new excellence. We believe that a firm which under-
markets, new sources of demand, increased stands and capitalises on its unique competitive
investment in the infrastructure driving the strengths can pursue a differentiated strategy
business, top notch risk management frame- that delivers success in the form of client and

22 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 23

“Do you EquiLend?”


The ever-changing landscape of
global securities finance calls for
greater standardization and
increased efficiencies. EquiLend
evolves with the industry and helps
to lead in the development of robust
technology solutions. If scalability,
risk mitigation, and cost
containment are important factors
in growing your business, then you
should EquiLend. I invite you to
discover more about why financial
institutions throughout the
securities finance world use
EquiLend.

Born leaders choose EquiLend.

Melissa Gow
Managing Director
EquiLend

North America +1 212 901 2200 | Europe +44 (20) 7743 9510 | www.equilend.com

EquiLend LLC and EquiLend Europe Limited are subsidiaries of EquiLend Holdings LLC. EquiLend LLC is a member of the FINRA and SIPC. EquiLend Europe Limited is authorized and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial
Services Authority. All services offered by EquiLend are offered through EquiLend LLC and EquiLend Europe Limited using EquiLend proprietary technology and software. © 2001-2007 EquiLend Holdings LLC. All Rights Reserved.
SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 24

Securities Lending PANEL DEBATE

employee satisfaction. How have moves towards introducing greater


EU tax harmonisation affected the market?
Following Electronic Trading Group’s lawsuit Have any particular recent decisions of the
last year, how have the attempts at achieving European Courts of Justice had a significant
greater price transparency in the securities impact on this?
lending market been received? What progress
has been made? d’Albrand: The tax and regulatory environment
is complex and challenging. The Focusbank and
d’Albrand: The so-called lack of price trans- Denkavit cases have definitely reminded the
parency of lending fees due to the power of the industry that nothing should be taken for grant-
prime brokers over the industry is quite dis- ed. It is evident that tax treaties could be recon-
putable. The securities lending industry is an sidered, with a potential to reduce the cross
OTC market and fees are based on various fac- border flows. We understand that a number of

Industry consolidation, especially with the recent large


American mergers, is bringing all participants to examine and
redefine their business models and service offerings
tors, such as creditworthiness, whether the principal market participants – both lenders and
stock is callable and ease of location. Increased borrowers – have for a long time started diversi-
market transparency, agent borrowing and lend- fying their activity to adjust and/or compensate
ing offers, benchmarking tools and trading plat- for any changes in the industry’s business mod-
forms are giving beneficial owners and short els.
sellers a better view on market prices. In any
case, independent intermediaries offering trans- Fieldhouse: While tax harmonisation will cer-
parent pricing are emerging as competitors to tainly have an impact on the market, it’s only
prime brokers. one factor in a constantly evolving marketplace.
It could be inferred that tax harmonisation
Wilson: Transparency means many things to could potentially negatively impact revenue
many people. At JPMorgan, we have seen a streams from certain markets. At the same
large increase in requests from our clients for time, however, it’s important to keep in mind
more detailed information and understanding of that major players are constantly investing in
their securities lending activities. Gone are the new sources of demand and new markets in
days of a single monthly or quarterly report. order to capture additional revenue opportuni-
Clients are looking for daily, and sometimes real ties as they arise.
time, information relating to loan activity, rev-
enues, risk and exposures. We are seeing a shift Wilson: Various decisions by the ECJ have sug-
to a more front office asset management gested a degree of tax harmonisation among
approach to lending by many of our clients, and European Union member states. However, most
so detailed performance reviews are now com- recent decisions issued by the ECJ, combined
monplace. This focuses on where the return is with the action currently underway by the
coming from, where and why superior perform- European Commission, have all hinged on the
ance was generated and what risks were taken comparability between the entities claiming the
in the process. There is also more information relief. To date, this point has not been fully
available today regarding industry wide activity. proven and therefore the direct impact on secu-
This is useful in benchmarking or understand- rities lending has been limited. Rather than the
ing the size of the overall market, as well as cases having a dramatic and immediate impact
prices for a given asset class, and in given mar- on tax rates, it is more likely that the actions of
kets and for specific securities. the ECJ and the European Commission will lead
to individual member states amending their

24 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 25

2
enhance

Getting you there.

You know that it takes more than good fortune to enhance your portfolio’s returns
while managing risks. In order to make strategic decisions, you need relevant
market research and sound investment recommendations in the borrowing and
lending of domestic and international securities. With our innovative skills and
support, you have a reliable team on your side. www.fortis.com

Key Locations
Amsterdam: + 31 20 527 1499 London: + 44 20 7444 8511
New York: + 1 212 418 6802 Paris: + 33 1 5567 9084
Hong Kong: + 852 2823 2188

Merchant & Private Banking


SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 26

Securities Lending PANEL DEBATE

domestic tax legislation to create a more level will have to make significant investments in tech-
playing field for cross border, intra-EU investors. nology and infrastructure to better dynamically
For example, early in 2007, the Netherlands manage associated market, operational and cred-
reduced its standard tax withholding rate, provid- it risk. The ability to have dynamic risk and collat-
ing exemption for EU resident pension funds and eral management capabilities will position firms
tax exempt entities (such as charities). to be more responsive than ever to a client’s
changing strategies.
In 2004, the SEC proposed changes in regula-
tion to relax short-sale constraints and the pilot Wilson: The changes enacted by the SEC (Rule
programme began on 2 May 2005, what 10a-1(a)) were intended to expand liquidity in the
impact has this had on the market? marketplace while implementing strict compli-
ance on fails and appear to have succeeded.
Broker-dealers have adopted additional technical
d’Albrand: The SEC Regulation (SHO in January controls on locating ‘intent to sell’, which includes
2004), where short sellers of equities are client logs for approvals, archiving of data, and
required to locate securities to borrow before sell- pre-borrows of short sales on trade date ahead of
ing, has given a greater role for securities lending settlement date. Borrowing securities for failed
desks. Hedge funds are putting increased pres- deliveries is preferred to effecting a buy-in. Buy-ins
sure on prime broker services. More than ever, have become more efficient, with the introduction
finding the right stock at the right moment is an of netting through the continuous net settlement
important part of the service a prime broker system (CNS) doing away with fails after buy-ins,
must give to their clients. All sources of informa- as sometimes happened in the past. In summary,
tion, electronic or personal relationships, must the SEC changes have had a positive affect in the
be used to their full extent. marketplace, but with some added overhead costs
for compliance monitoring.
The so-called lack of price transparency of lending fees due to
the power of the prime brokers over the industry is quite
disputable. The securities lending industry is an OTC market
and fees are based on various factors, such as creditworthiness,
whether the stock is callable, and ease of location
Fieldhouse: Overall, the impact has been a posi- What will the securities lending market look
tive one for the securities financing and hedge like in the next five years? Are electronic FX
fund industries. Typically, hedge funds like to take markets foreshadowing the evolution of securi-
short positions and therefore need constant ties lending?
access to inventory to finance those positions.
One of the main drivers has been the growing d’Albrand: The securities lending market will be
number of institutional investors pursuing alpha that much more streamlined in five years, and
generating strategies such as the 130/30. This the future success will to some extent be linked
important new source of market demand was to technology. However, I believe that the
expected to have a significant impact on pricing, evolution of the securities lending industry will
as suppliers capitalised on the growing institu- follow a different path than that of FX. The two
tional interest in alternative investments. activities are simply governed differently. FX is
As a result, there has been a strong emphasis highly regulated but flexible, while securities lend-
and focus on credit and risk, as well as compli- ing is much less regulated but more constricted.
ance by regulatory agencies and internal risk Take for example the fact that each securities
departments to ensure a proper risk manage- lending arrangement is bound by a specific con-
ment framework is in place. The changing regula- tract, inhibiting the type of transparency found in
tory environment and increased focus on risk, FX transactions. Amongst the several routes to
credit, compliance and capital usage is now the market, automation is a strong trend, with differ-
norm in the industry, and has forced firms into a ent platforms such as the auction model.
very structured risk management process. Firms However, many participants still prefer to adhere

26 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 27

to traditional methods, believing that a relation- industry-wide platforms such as EquiLend, so


ship-based business may attain better results. that a common standard can be used by industry
participants. Within five years, those participants
Fieldhouse: It’s clear that the future of the securi- that can embrace technology, have a large well
ties lending market will be inextricably tied to capitalised balance sheet and who can also inno-
advances in technology. Technology will continue vate in areas such as 130/30 funds will be the
to serve as the backbone of the industry and dominant and successful organisations.
those firms who invest wisely and strategically in Seidel: Transparency and “attention” will be the
their technology will be the ones who win out in major factors influencing lending in the next five
the end. years. As we have seen for the past decade, lend-
Going forward, we will continue to see customers ing continues to move towards a more main-
demanding more integrated service offerings that stream financial product. With that migration will
will enable them to maximise their revenues and come greater attention from all involved.
enhance risk management capabilities, while Beneficial owners, agents, broker-dealers, regula-
maintaining operational transparency. As with all tors, vendors, media folks, you name it, will all
other electronic trading environments, innovation have heightened focus on lending. Clients in par-
coupled with robust risk management and the ticular will be looking for the optimal provider –
ability to integrate internally and externally, will be one that can deliver strong returns in a risk miti-
It is likely that the actions of the ECJ and the European
Commission will lead to individual member states amending
their domestic tax legislation to create a more level playing field
for cross border, intra-EU investors
the drivers and differentiators in this market. gated environment and deliver this in multiple
And as the traditionally long only investors con- ways. Customisation, once thought of as a privi-
tinue to migrate to the alternative sphere of lege for the largest, will be demanded by a
investment activity, there will be opportunities for greater segment of the market. Clients all have
providers who can provide a complete set of serv- different objectives in lending and soon all will be
ices to this client base, as their needs and expec- able to achieve those and will be pushed to find a
tations become more sophisticated and complex. partner who can provide it. This attention, focus,
And while technology is certainly going to play an and push to the front lines by lending will lead to
integral role in the future of the industry, what’s increased transparency. It will come in the form
going to ultimately make or break the individual of price discovery (fees, rates) but more impor-
players is their ability to integrate into their oper- tantly, in total lending transparency. While fees
ations the flexibility that tomorrow’s clients (and are important, beneficial owners will need to ask
their increasingly diverse investment strategies) the broader question about overall program per-
are going to require. formance. Could my lending program be done
better? More safely? More efficiently? Can I have
Wilson: Technology and balance sheet are going multiple programs? Until beneficial owners can
to become increasingly important factors over answer questions like these in the affirmative,
the next five years. Balance sheet and capital are only then are we really getting toward transparen-
going to be essential in delivering to lenders the cy. I feel this will be a big change in the next three
risk protection they look for via indemnifications years. Lastly, on electronic trading – there’s no
from their service providers. As the business con- question that it’s coming. While an important
tinues to grow at a rapid pace, this may start to part of the maturation and evolution of trans-
put a strain on all but the largest and most exten- parency in lending, I do think that unlike other
sive balance sheets. As volumes increase, not products – like foreign exchange – price discov-
having the necessary technology to achieve ery in lending will be slower to take full hold. As
straight through processing for a high proportion noted above, all clients have a different desire
of transactions and downstream processes will and risk profile in lending and price discovery,
make it very difficult for providers to sustain while an indicator of success, will not be the sole
growth. This also relates to connectivity with evaluator in the next few years. SLMG
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 27
SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 28

Ask the EXPERTS

ABP Investments
Is securities lending a back office or front office function?

At pension fund ABP with assets totalling timed so that we can divide our volatile cash
EUR215 billion, we view securities lending as from cash that is considered core and we can
an investment management function. commit to a manager for a year or longer.
Securities lending is considered an independ- Risk management is a key part of our over-
ent investment strategy. We apply all of the sight function. We look at guideline compli-
same investment disciplines and rigor to secu- ance through a variety of reporting tools and
rities lending that would be applied to any analytics that standardise program data across
investment strategy. Asset allocation, vendor providers. We also measure total exposure
selection, investment guidelines, benchmark- across all of our borrowers taking into account
ing, and performance measurement are all part exposure in our collateral reinvestment portfo-
of the ABP programme. lio. Value at risk (VaR) is measured programme
We take an active approach to securities lend- wide to ensure that programme risks are
ing and aim to optimise providers and counter- appropriate for the fund’s risk tolerance. We
parties based upon their specialties or ability have found that our programme VaR is relative-
to pay guaranteed premiums via the auction ly small when compared to the alpha that it
process for our various portfolios. This delivers. Through our quality management
approach has been the key to the success of function, we are also constantly working to
our program which will top EUR105 million this increase the programme’s operational efficien-
year, up from ¤43.5 million in 2003 prior to the cy to reduce operational risk.
implementation of this strategy. While ABP would never underestimate the
Applying investment management discipline importance of operational support in the
to the inefficient, bundled, securities lending smooth administration of our programme, we
industry has allowed us to maximise perform- primarily view securities lending as an invest-
ance and create a significant source of alpha. ment strategy that generates considerable
We use three primary vendors for securities amounts of money. Thus, we manage our pro-
lending services with a best of breed approach, gramme as we would any of our investment
eSecLending, State Street and JPMorgan. The functions.
eSecLending auction model has been a key Finally, of course, the coin of securities lend-
tool in the management of the programme. ing also has another side: corporate gover-
The auction provides price discovery, bench- nance. ABP has a policy in place to strike a bal-
marking and transparency and has been ance between the returns from securities lend-
employed across all asset classes improving ing and the retention of voting rights in cases
both lending fees and utilisation rates. ‘in which it makes a difference’. A minimum of
At ABP we have built a robust oversight infra- 10% of the shares will always be available for
structure, which has allowed us to maintain voting at AGMs. In case a company is on
control over the programme and make better ABP’s full voting list, ABP
strategic investment decisions. We have used will in principle vote with all
this infrastructure to employ a variety of collat- of its shares. Shares lent
eral management strategies. Key to this has will be recalled for that pur-
been the unbundling of collateral management pose, unless there are no
services and lending. The programme now controversial issues on the
uses five distinct, lowly correlated strategies. AGM agenda.
All managers must comply with ABP’s invest-
ment guidelines, but different managers have Mark Linklater, head of
been hired for different strategies. Our pro- Securities Lending, ABP
gramme is large enough and our auctions are Investments

28 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 29

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SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 30

Ask the EXPERTS

International Corporate
Governance Network

What are the implications of stock lending


for corporate governance?

The growth in stock lending has been one of customer before a date that is seldom far off
the most spectacular success stories of the cap- when the recall order is given.
ital market liberalisation of the past 20 years. By As it now stands, lending has the effect of
providing the markets with greatly enhanced liq- inuring lenders to their stewardship responsibil-
uidity and greater potential to hedge positions, ities. Fortunately, most shareholders’ votes are
facilitating two way bets in equities, and provid- non-controversial, because until and unless
ing long term holders of equity positions with a some mechanism is developed to reduce this
means of enhancing revenue, the expanded conflict between voting and the continuance of
lending of today’s markets has contributed sig- a borrowed position, lending will continue to
nificantly to the strong performance of equity provide a powerful disincentive to voting.
markets over the period. The threshold problem is that both the
However, as beneficial as it has been, this administrators of a lending programme and
greatly expanded lending activity has not been their counterparts on the borrowing broker’s
without its price. As some of the less fortunate side have a vested interest that the share not be
side effects come to the fore, the danger recalled and the loan terminated. They are apt
increases that regulators will impose rules to point out that the loan will bring in real cash
which have the effect of dramatically inhibiting (however little) and that exercising the share-
lending in order to curb some of those side holder’s franchise has only intangible value. The
effects. Better that the industry address these threat that more than very occasional recall may
issues itself first, than that they be addressed by cause the borrower to stop doing business with
unsympathetic legislators responding to pres- the lender is invoked to stifle debate.
sures from outside the investment industry. It may also be more difficult than advertised
Lending has always been predicated upon the for the borrower to find the needed shares when
assumption that most share owners will not a recall is demanded; in the case of voting, fail-
want to vote. Since the vote is the one thing ure to recall in time seldom results in any penal-
that borrowers and their agents cannot indem- ty clause being invoked by the lender. The net
nify through their lending contracts, this aspect result of this situation, in which proxy voting is
of lending is usually glossed over in the sales made subordinate to lending, is that lenders
pitches made to senior managers and boards of rarely recall for voting, unless a bid is in
trustees. Prospective lenders are of course prospect. Proxy voting teams, and the few port-
assured that the have the right to recall shares folio managers who are interested in corporate
(be bought back in) for any reason. The governance issues, rapidly become discouraged
assumption is that they will not have to do this at this display of corporate priorities. Often con-
very often. troversial voting issues are not even reported to
In the event of a bid, rights offering, or other higher levels of management because of the
transaction, the broker can often ‘assent the conflict with revenue generation, no matter how
shares’ and be on the hook for the substitute small.
equity instead. Dividends and special distribu- A further problem is that both investing insti-
tions are provided for in the contract for differ- tutions and their portfolio companies are fre-
ence that the broker has with the hedge fund on quently uncertain as to the size of their actual
the other side of the trade, and everything is holdings. An investor soon loses credibility
just fine. Except, of course, for voting, which when claiming to represent 3,000,000 shares in
requires that similar shares be delivered to the an engagement with a company, if only 50,000

30 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 31

are eventually voted. I have seen senior man- was less than 0.05%. There was the case where
agers of major funds confidently promise they a group of borrowers voted to derail a friendly
would vote millions of shares in a certain way, transaction, reaping a huge profit on their short
only to see them turn up at an AGM, red faced, position. There have been instances where
with one third that number. The rest were out shareowners, barred from voting because of a
on loan. conflict of interest, could lend some of their
Of course, no one else knows why the broker votes to another, friendly shareholder who was
wants to borrow stock, but the assumption is not similarly prohibited. There have been cases
that on the other side is a hedge fund or other where substantial votes were cast by sharehold-
client who wants to be short. The shares will be ers who had a negative economic interest in a
sold in the market, whoever buys them will be company.
another legitimate investor, and that is that. While it is true that this is always possible
However, the number of cases where it has through the use of derivatives, at least the
been revealed that a client was in fact borrowing investor’s long position in the shares is a mat-
shares for the sole or primary purpose of voting ter of record. The problem with lent and bor-
them, while small, has been rising. rowed positions is that they never have to be
There is every reason to believe that there are reported. A party can show up with 5% or even
other instances where this occurs which are not 25% of the votes without ever having to disclose
widely known because it is never disclosed who his existence, can vote in a manner contrary to
initiates a stock borrowing transaction, let alone the other shareholders’ interest, and disappear
what the motivation was for doing so. without ever having to transact in an open mar-
Borrowing votes is extremely difficult to prove, ket.
and while generally condemned as bad practice, The ICGN Securities Lending Code of Best
in many jurisdictions it is neither illegal nor like- Practice was drafted with these issues in mind.
ly to give rise to sanctions if detected. But even It was conceived to be relatively unobtrusive,
suspicion of the practice is sufficient to com- with the goal of reducing lending activity as lit-
promise the integrity of the shareholders’ meet- tle as possible. Given that many institutions
ing. It also encourages management to take have decided to absent themselves or withdraw
more defensive measures at the expense of from lending activity because of the problems
shareholder value, and plays havoc with our described above, alleviating these problems
notions of liberal capitalism. could actually result in greater activity, with
‘Empty voting,’ to use the term applied to it more entrants returning to this market. The pri-
by Henry Hu of the University of Texas, runs mary objective of the code is to ensure that
directly counter to the concept of collective lenders know what they are doing, and that they
responsibility for decision making which is at keep their beneficiaries or clients apprised of it
the core of the theory of the corporation. When as well, not that lending activity be reduced
the shareholder’s voting interest may be indiscriminately.
detached from his economic interest in the Above all, the ICGN Code calls for greater
prosperity of the corporation, as is the case with transparency. Participants in this market need
the voting of borrowed shares (as well as the to have greater confidence that they are not
use of certain derivative positions) all sorts of lending shares to would be abusers of the sys-
mischief may result. The assumption that the tem. Issuers, which are in a sense involuntary
vote is cast in order to protect the owner’s per- participants, need to have confidence that rights
ceived economic interest is no longer valid, and delegated to shareholders
the vote may be cast in such a way as to actual- are not going to be usurped
ly attempt to destroy the value of the corpora- by those whose interest is in
tion. For anyone attempting to wreak mischief no way allied to the survival
upon the company, borrowing shares for the and prosperity of the enter-
purpose of voting may be a relatively cheap and prise.
easy way to do it.
There have been cases recently where a share-
holder attempted to change the outcome of an Andrew Clearfield, chairman
AGM by voting almost 5% of the company’s of the ICGN Committee on
equity when his actual stake in the company Securities Lending
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 31
SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:45 pm Page 32

Ask the EXPERTS

CalPERS

How can an organisation benefit from


securities lending and corporate governance
at the same time?
“To be or not to be; that is the question.” ing approximately 50 securities from lending
Hamlet considered the most basic of questions: during the year. The third policy recalls, around
suffer with “outrageous fortune” or fight against the expected record date, the 300 largest US
a “sea of troubles.” Four hundred years after equity positions to participate in the proxy vote.
Shakespeare’s eponymous play was first written, The next dance step involves ensuring that
the question remains the same for securities the policies and procedures are transparent to
lending. It is also important to consider: to vote all stakeholders – lending agents, borrowers,
or not to vote; that is the question. custodians, and other administrative agents.
Establishing a balance between revenue and Establishing the proxy guidelines as a part of
corporate governance mirrors Hamlet’s strug- the contract ensures that all parties understand
gle to balance fortune and troubles. At the the rules. Additionally, CalPERS has a proce-
California Public Employees’ Retirement dure to determine what happens if a stakehold-
System (CalPERS), the equilibrium is estab- er wishes to keep the security on loan. If a bor-
lished and well proven that it is possible, if not rower wishes to borrow a stock over record
necessary, to harmonise stock loan earnings date, the securities lending group writes a pro-
with a sound proxy voting policy. CalPERS’ posal that details the economic value of keep-
securities lending group works closely with the ing the security on loan and presents it to the
corporate governance unit to maintain a policy corporate governance unit. The corporate gov-
that accentuates CalPERS’ fiduciary responsibil- ernance unit reviews the proposal and then
ity to the pensioners, along with the responsi- accepts or denies it, based upon correlating the
bility of a long term investor. earnings received from the loan and the value
In the fiscal year ending June 2007, CalPERS’ of the vote.
securities lending contributed USD162 million Before the dance ends, a record of consisten-
in income to the overall fund performance. cy must be established. This includes following
CalPERS recognises that maximising returns is the mandate, goals and mission of the organi-
not mutually exclusive from voting proxies. sation; staffing resources to support the initia-
This well coordinated dance balances commu- tive and monitoring processes properly; and
nication, transparency, and consistency. enforcing the policy.
The beginning steps of the dance involve At CalPERS, this well rehearsed dance has
establishing an open line of communication resulted in maximising lending revenue and fol-
and good working relationships with the fund’s lowing a first rate corporate governance policy.
corporate governance decisions. Creating poli- CalPERS has balanced fortunes and troubles
cies and procedures that are formally docu- and determined the answer to the question to
mented helps minimise conflicts. At CalPERS, vote or not to vote. Do both.
there are three policies which address lending Daniel Kiefer, opportunistic portfolio manager,
and proxy voting. The first two involve exclud- CalPERS

32 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp17-33 10/9/07 2:46 pm Page 33

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SLMG 2007 pp34-49 10/9/07 4:43 pm Page 34

JPMorgan - FUTURE OF THE MARKET

Now and the ences without hearing extensive debates on tax


harmonisation, hedge fund activity, proxy vot-
ing, indemnification, transparency, disinterme-
future diation, electronic trading and emerging mar-
kets, to name but a few.
It would be easy to dismiss some of these as
Paul Wilson looks ahead at minor threats to revenues requiring minimal
the potential of the securities product enhancement from the agent lenders to
address the issues; however, that could be a
lending market mistake.
Tax harmonisation is already affecting rev-
Asset managers or pension funds would enue streams. Europe has already seen many
hardly have considered the relative merits of dif-
changes over the last few years. Fortunately, the
ferent securities lending structures five years
general strength of securities lending revenues
ago. Any return was a good return and the front
has, so far, cushioned the blow. However,
office was not concerned as long as securities
reliance on one revenue stream is creating sig-
lending was not affecting their ability to manage
nificant concentration risk for some industry
the assets and generate alpha. Typically, the big
participants and the consequences will be evi-
custodian agent lenders called on their clients
dent as additional tax treaties are signed and/or
and educated them on the risks, returns and
more harmonisation occurs.
operational implications of securities lending. It
Beneficial owners have for a long time select-
was a single route to market, and although
ed risk management as the single most impor-
somewhat one dimensional, it could be suffi-
tant consideration when participating in securi-
ciently tailored (for example, markets, borrow-
ties lending. Risk management is never far from
ers, collateral guidelines) to suit most clients’
the top of any beneficial owner’s agenda. Make
risk/reward requirements. Consequently, many
no mistake, the level of lending returns enjoyed
institutional investors participated, so that lend-
are significantly influenced by the level of risk
ing books grew, borrower demand increased,
that lenders are prepared to take. As risk/return
trading desks expanded and revenues grew.
analysis improves within the industry, beneficial
A view from today shows that the custodian
owners will increasingly ask questions about
lenders, plus a few new market entrants are still
their programmes, the level of indemnification
doing good business. Lending volumes, driven
afforded by the agent and the ability of their
by an expanded pool of lendable assets, have
agent to meet its indemnification obligations
been matched by increased demand from the
should an event occur. The result is that
prime brokers and an economic environment

Multi-tasking by agent lenders is the future; the one


dimensional securities lending model with a captive client
base has disappeared
enhanced reporting, greater transparency and
that has pushed up returns for most beneficial
better informed relationship managers will pro-
owners and lenders.
vide granular details for the beneficial owners to
But does that mean that the environment is
satisfy their need for information. Just as signifi-
an easy one for agent lenders, and that educa-
cantly, agent lenders will be quizzed on their
tion, not competition, still drives new beneficial
financial ability to meet the promises they make
owners into our respective programs? Not at
within their contracts. Just how reliable is that
all. Growth in the industry has created new
indemnification after all?
lending structures, alternative providers and
Other points of debate in the industry are with
intense competition. Lending clients are no
us now and have been for a few years. Proxy vot-
longer satisfied in knowing that their assets are
ing, for example, requires close coordination
being lent but want to be assured that they are
between the agent and their beneficial owners to
maximising revenues and controlling risk.
ensure that corporate governance obligations are
Furthermore, environmental factors are creating
fulfilled. The fact that beneficial owners cannot
both threats and opportunities to the industry.
vote shares that are on loan is the fundamental
You can’t attend many securities lending confer-
34 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008
SLMG 2007 pp34-49 10/9/07 4:43 pm Page 35

point that drives the concern. This leads to much So, if you have a diverse source of revenue,
misunderstanding, rumour and speculation. great risk management, provide top level infor-
Recalling stock before the record date where vot- mation to your clients and maximise revenues
ing is viewed as important in a given case is a across the range of securities lending routes to
ready made solution, especially when the majori- market mentioned above then you have it all?
ty of positions are lent on an overnight basis. Well no, actually.
Securities lending can certainly sit comfortably The securities lending industry is not immune
with an active corporate governance programme. from the changes taking place across the asset
Best practice dictates that each beneficial owner management world. It has been well document-
develops a policy with regard to how it will han- ed that the lines that separate long managers
dle voting in situations where securities are on from hedge funds look increasingly blurred. The
loan, weighing the value of revenues being more sophisticated institutional investors and
achieved versus the loss of voting rights. 130/30 fund strategies are generating an
The securities lending industry is not immune from the
changes taking place across the asset management world.
It has been well documented that the lines that separate long
managers from hedge funds look increasingly blurred
Tax harmonisation, risk analysis and indemni- increase in shorting from the more traditional
fication quality will influence the industry in managers. These managers, who have worked
coming years, and proxy voting will continue to for many years with their agent lenders are, for
cause debate. the first time, looking for borrowing as well as
Directed lending – Clients have their own lending services. Borrowing a position from an
lending desk, negotiate loans themselves, internally or externally managed account of the
and work in partnership with their custodian same client and having other sources to capture
to administer the programme operationally. good value borrows from your agent can be an
Exclusive lending – Lending to one borrower, attractive proposition. Add that to the same
typically after an auction, often conducted by agent that can manage your collateral delivery
the agent, where the highest bidder wins the against positions borrowed and overlay the
right to exclusive access to one or more port- range of securities lending programmes men-
folios. tioned above across the same securities and
Third party (non-custody) lending – Lending you have a powerful business model.
programmes for those beneficial owners This multi-tasking by agent lenders is the
where the lending agent is not the custodian future; the one dimensional securities lending
bank. model with a captive client base has disap-
Synthetic lending – The use of financial peared. By working closely with beneficial own-
instruments to replicate lending structures. ers so that they can, without multiple contracts
This is used for those markets where an and multiple vendor relationships, also gain sig-
established securities lending structure does nificant economies of scale will see the end
not exist. game winners being those banks with the
Depository lending linkage – Links to lending broadest products, the most healthy balance
programmes of certain depositories, such as sheets, the most diverse sources of revenues
Euroclear. and the best technologies to
Combinations – Mix and matching of all of maximise returns, quantify
the above. risk and provide true per-
All of these structures come with their own formance measurement.
challenges. Technology must be in place and SLMG
legal and regulatory due diligence handled. It’s Paul Wilson, senior vice president
a challenge to offer the whole suite of products, and global head of Sales and Client
but clients expect it and often like to consoli- Management for Securities Lending
date their lending services with one provider and Execution Products (SLEP),
and also want to get maximum value across the JPMorgan Worldwide Securities
whole product set. Services
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 35
SLMG 2007 pp34-49 10/9/07 4:43 pm Page 36

eSecLending - SECURITIES LENDING IN 2007

An investment Today’s market


Beneficial owners are now increasingly viewing
securities lending as a predictable alpha generat-
decision ing process, capable of producing consistent
incremental returns across a broad array of asset
classes. They are looking beyond the traditional
stock by stock pooled agency lending pro-
Chris Jaynes explores the grammes and incorporating specialised lending
current position of securities programmes tailored to fit their specific
risk/return parameters. Beneficial owners are
lending in the market also taking advantage of the fact that there are
more choices in the marketplace today allowing
Securities lending is a well established prac- them to evaluate securities lending and its
tice and a mature market, but it has experienced providers in a new light – and to select more
a significant evolution over the past decade. The than a single route to market. Many long accept-
industry has changed from being viewed primari- ed investment management disciplines are now
ly as a back office, operational function, to a front being applied to the securities lending market,
office investment management discipline. including transparency, use of specialists, multi-
Beneficial owners are now increasingly viewing ple managers and competition.
securities lending as an alpha generating tool
capable of producing a meaningful and pre- Transparency
dictable revenue stream across a wide range of There is a clear trend by beneficial owners to
portfolios and asset classes. unbundle their securities lending and custody
mandates in order to increase transparency and
Where it was returns and gain greater control over their securi-
Historically, securities lending was treated as a ties lending programmes. Greater transparency is
back office, operational tool that was used to important to beneficial owners in three key areas:
facilitate settlements and cover shorts in the performance measurement to determine if they
market. Demand arose from the banks and bro- are earning competitive returns; risk manage-
ker-dealers and supply originated at large pen- ment to gain better understanding and control
sion funds, insurance companies and asset over the risks they are taking to generate returns;
managers. The significant growth in both the and fees they are paying to service providers.
trading volume and sophistication of the equity The industry has adopted better benchmarking
and fixed income markets, along with the cre- tools to improve performance measurement and
ation of a wide range of derivative products has analysis. There are now viable database systems
created increased demand to borrow securities. to assist market participants in determining
This increased demand has led to the need for whether their returns are in line with industry
more supply, leading to more discriminatory averages. Transparency is also increasingly
pricing, and more creative means of managing important for senior management and boards to
and packaging the product. ensure that their fund assets are earning the full
From a beneficial owner’s perspective, securi- and appropriate returns for any risks taken and to
ties lending was historically viewed as a bun- ensure that objective criteria were used to award
dled service provided by custodian banks and asset mandates. Many beneficial owners have
mandates were linked with custody from both a also recently unbundled their custody and
contractual and pricing standpoint. There was lending contracts to gain a better understanding
limited transparency and few alternatives to the and control of their fees, and to better align the
traditional custodial agent pooled lending pro- interests of their service providers.
grammes. However, over the past decade secu-
rities lending has received a new level of atten- Multiple providers and use of specialists
tion and focus from beneficial owners. Beneficial owners have been utilising multiple
Securities lending decisions began to be viewed providers for many years for investment manage-
as an investment decision, causing a change of ment, brokerage execution and foreign exchange,
expectations from clients and a new level of even though these are all services typically pro-
service and competition from third party and vided by custodian banks or their affiliates. The
custodial agents. same is now becoming true for securities lend-

36 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp34-49 10/9/07 4:43 pm Page 37

ing. Many beneficial owners, especially in the US, lender to achieve premium, market driven
UK and Europe, have successfully implemented results, in a manner that provides unbiased,
securities lending programmes utilising both measurable results, which they can then produce
third party and custodial agents. for their boards and management.
These beneficial owners are also increasingly
using auctions and third party specialists to Definition of an exclusive principal arrange-
enhance returns on their most attractive assets ment: An exclusive principal arrangement
while continuing to utilise their custodian to lend makes a portfolio, or portion of a portfolio,
their general collateral assets via the agency available to a specific borrower for a fixed
queue. As many beneficial owners are now period of time, in exchange for a guaranteed
understanding that securities lending is primarily return. For this exclusive right, the borrower
a trading and investment management function, pays a guaranteed fixed return to the lender
they are choosing to optimise results by utilising either as a fixed basis point based on the value
specialists. They are now implementing more of the lendable assets in the portfolio, or via a
sophisticated provider selection processes and fixed sum payable monthly over the term.
demanding more sophisticated risk management
and reporting tools. Where it is going
The traditional custodial stock by stock, queue As Lenders and investment managers come to
or pool driven, lending programme has been more fully understand the securities lending mar-

Transparency is increasingly important for senior management


and boards to ensure that their fund assets are earning the full
and appropriate returns for any risks taken and to ensure that
objective criteria were used to award asset mandates
joined by a number of new, innovative and cus- ket and its underlying structures, the trend
tomisable lending processes. These include: towards managing the product as an alpha-gen-
- The growth of the third party agent lender, erating instrument will continue. Beneficial
including non-custodial agency lending done via Owners are, now more than ever, actively manag-
a custodial bank. ing their securities lending programmes. They
- The rise of exclusive principal programmes – are more carefully considering the options and
going direct to the borrower or broker. tools available to them and are therefore making
- The use of auctions to distribute information better informed lending decisions. They are also
and determine the market price for a portfolio of actively seeking to introduce competition and
securities, or even a single security. utilise various routes to market, allowing them to
safely increase returns, mitigate risk and achieve
Auctions and competition greater control over their programmes.
The rise of auctions in the securities lending mar- We expect to see more sophisticated and inno-
ket is a trend that is also gaining popularity. vative methods of lending continue to evolve, as
Beneficial owners have the opportunity to auction new assets become available for lending, as new
off a portfolio, a portion of a portfolio, or even markets around the world develop and as
single stocks, to a selected pool of borrowers in a improved risk management and trading tools are
competitive environment. Most auctions award developed. SLMG
portfolios to the winning bidder(s) on an exclu-
sive principal basis. The objective is to capture
the most attractive price for the assets, while pro-
viding the lender with a high degree of trans-
parency and control throughout the process.
This route to market has proven to be successful
for a broad range of asset classes when com-
pared to traditional pooled lending programmes
for many large pension funds, mutual funds and Chris Jaynes, president of
investment management groups. It enables the eSecLending

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 37


SLMG 2007 pp34-49 10/9/07 4:43 pm Page 38

SGSS - SELECTION CRITERIA

integrate different services efficiently and cost effective-


If the shoe fits… ly. Additionally, an agent lender that offers the entire
value chain can suggest further enhancements to the
programme on an individual basis.
Certainly, the idea of trading directly with borrowers
Guy d’Albrand writes about the rather than going through an agent can be tempting.
important factors fund Although not impossible, this would entail a higher level
of engagement in becoming a direct participant in the
managers need to consider lending market. Front and back office functions, opera-
when instigating a lucrative tional costs, financial capabilities, risk management and
the complicated regulatory framework that exist in many
securities lending programme countries combined could make it difficult for smaller
lenders to run a direct lending business profitably.
The world of securities lending is complex and often Importantly, ensuring that borrowing conditions from
misunderstood. However, this is changing – it’s an principal borrowers or through exclusive arrangements
industry currently in midstream of formalisation. are attractive requires specific (and expensive) skills and
Securities lending represents a significant growth area teams.
for fund managers, and is a vital tool in generating addi- Through outsourcing their securities lending activity to
tional returns to enhance performance. Many have an agent lender, fund managers can better focus on their
already come aboard, reaping an additional income core business.
stream from their assets. Does size matter?
To launch a securities lending programme, it is essen- Is the lender you intend to choose a wholesale partici-
tial that fund managers first fully understand their own pant distributing large portfolios in a mass product fash-
investing strategy and portfolio size before being able to ion and thus leaving a substantial spread to other play-
properly determine their securities lending criteria, tak- ers, or does this lender make the most of each portfolio
ing into account their trading, risk and operational com- line by reaching end users directly? The answer depends
fort levels. on the size and market position of the lender and also on
Choice of an agent lender the service level the lender is committed to provide.
Few funds can ignore the yield enhancement effects of a Although large lending agents certainly bring some
well managed securities lending programme. It is true advantages, they may not be the most suitable for some
with any class of assets and, taking into account the cash fund managers, since the opportunity for lending is a
reinvestment additional return, it can be significant. matter of the market reach possible through an agent
There is an array of lending options to choose from. and the team’s ability to be proactive in lending invento-
Pricing, risk management and operational support are ries. Beneficial owners might thus be better served in
important, but so is the client-agent link itself. Securities smaller programmes, where they are catered to with
lending is a people business. The quality of the agent more dedication than in large factories. Moreover, if the
lender, that is to say the dedication towards the fund’s lender requires local or regional expertise, another route
assets, is one of the key considerations when analysing a may be more appropriate, especially to maximise utilisa-
securities lending programme. A healthy relationship is a tion rates and/or the returns achieved from participating
fundamental prerequisite to productive long term collab- in those markets.
oration. Operational efficiency?
The main challenge in choosing the right agent stems Operational efficiency is an increasingly important con-
not only from the fact that securities lending transactions tributor to overall fund performance and operational risk
are complicated to carry out because they are OTC trans- assessment is under more scrutiny with Basel II require-
actions, but also because they require a specific expertise ments. Awareness of the operational aspects of securities
to ensure safe settlement, relevant collateral adjustment lending transactions is crucial. Responsibilities encom-
and exact billing. Moreover, the actual asset’s utilisation pass several components, such as continually keeping
rate and lending performance is highly dependent on the users up to date about the portfolio, processing and
agent reach and team dedication in lending those assets, checking the lending transactions, monitoring and allo-
whatever algorithm is in place to ensure fairness of treat- cating the collateral, and processing recalls and realloca-
ment across customers. tion, coupon payment and corporate actions, allocation
When a full range of services, from custody to securi- of the lending revenues, and measuring exposures and
ties lending, can be delivered, transactions can be risks.
processed seamlessly. A comprehensive service provider Beneficial owners have a large set of constraints to be
has a better grasp of the overall process and is able to taken into account, such as acceptable types of trades
38 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008
SLMG 2007 pp34-49 Final 14/12/07 11:18 am Page 39

(open or term), loan periods, counterparties, collateral, their cash collateral in various currencies for various
percent on loan limit per issue, overall percent on loan durations and to process FX trades.
limit per fund, and limits per counterparty that very often Since risks related to cash reinvestment are potentially
make every single lending trade a specific transaction. greater than those with securities lending, choosing a
The agent lender should be able to implement these sets hefty structure is advisable: the agent lender should
of constraints and ensure their monitoring at the front share its expertise while setting cash reinvestment guide-
office level and then by the compliance team. lines. Risks and performance are linked, and compliance
Risks associated with securities lending transactions with beneficial owners’ guidelines should be checked pre-
are now well understood and monitored. Risks should be trade - to be performed automatically by the front office -
in line with clients’ investment and general policies. It is and post-trade by the risk and compliance department of
the agent lender’s role to point out risks arising from the lender. Moreover, the agent lender should use its own
market conditions or regulation, mitigate risks as much market knowledge (its own market rating system for
as possible and optimise revenues accordingly, as well as instance) to enforce more stringent rules, whenever
continually reassessing the risk/reward ratio, with the judged necessary, and watch at all times the
aim of achieving maximum performance. issuers/counterparties used.
Monitoring and guidelines The bottom line
As far as counterparty risk, borrowers need to be duly Similar to the utilisation rate, performance is linked to
authorised by beneficial owners and the agent lender. market access and reach. To be fully rewarding for the
Agent lenders should convey their risk department beneficial owner, market access should be independent
expertise and help beneficial owners in further securing from any vested interest. Independence from the inter-
solid borrowers. Sufficient diversification and proper ests of the proprietary trading positions of the institu-
reporting of counterparties, if needed, should be provid- tion, be it a bank, securities house or broker, or from any
ed to help determine where exposures lie. Borrowers proprietary borrowing flow, requires a separate structure,
should receive the necessary information for counterpar- with independent desks and performance directly linked
ty disclosure requirements, while at the same time, pro- to the revenues paid to clients. Additionally, market
tecting the lending activity. Furthermore, agent lenders access is more effective when dealing with direct end
can provide indemnifications in case of borrower default user interests, such as short covering. Finally, for large
and when the pledged collateral has become insufficient portfolios, the lender should provide performance bench-
due to adverse market movements to mitigate the marking for market levels.
remaining risk. Thus, the creditworthiness of the agent Overall, fund managers should be on the lookout for
lender is crucial. flexible securities lending programmes that will enable
Since collateral requirements, indemnification policies them to implement multiple strategies – such as the use
and cash reinvestment policies may vary, it is of the of structured trades and agency negotiated exclusives –
utmost importance to agree on the accepted collateral across different asset classes. A lending agent’s ability to
and their related haircuts, and to understand what insur- maximise revenue, manage risk, automate processing
ance, if any, your agent provides you with. The opera- and deliver seamless integration with the client’s core
tional strength of the agent you choose is paramount to investment management activity are key differentiators,
proper risk control, with regular and stringent risk moni- as is their ability to innovate and partner with clients on
toring and efficient margin calls. Borrower default can be future product development so that new opportunities
indemnified in various ways, but the first protection can be seized when available.
whatsoever remains the level of collateral that is in your At SGSS, our liquidity management experts offer a full
account. It is important to discuss your collateral require- range of flexible securities lending programmes, tailored
ments with your lender and to ensure that they keep individually and built to boost portfolio performance.
within an acceptable risk/reward profile. Your needs as a Backed by strong post-trade sup-
fund manager, performance versus risk terms, should be port and reporting, we offer
agreed with the agent lender and regularly fine tuned. indemnities, closely monitor col-
Cash reinvestment lateral, and rigorously benchmark
Agent lenders can also provide cash reinvestment, which our performance and market
generates further interest but also credit risks that are access, while you remain in full
measured and reported. When direct investment of the control over your assets. SLMG
cash received as collateral is allowed in fixed income
products, such as short term paper, debt, asset backed
securities or funds, beneficial owners bear a primary risk Guy d’Albrand, global head of
on issuers just as they do with their underlying portfolio. Liquidity Management, SGSS
If needed, beneficial owners should be able to reinvest
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 39
SLMG 2007 pp34-49 10/9/07 4:43 pm Page 40

Brown Brothers Harriman - MiFID

securities), but not others. To avoid intolerable reg-


MiFID and the ulatory complexity, it is expected that regulators will
attempt to apply MiFID as consistently as possible

market to in-scope and out-of-scope firms alike. The UK


Financial Services Authority (FSA), for example, sig-
nalled early on it would do this “where appropri-
ate”, and it did so later in 2007 by issuing har-
monised rules. While other member state regulators
are expected to follow suit, some have been slow to
Elizabeth Seidel discusses provide similar clarity.
the impact of the European What is affected?
directive on the securities In addition to covering organisational and conduct
lending market of business requirements applying to all investment
firms, MiFID will make significant changes to the
European regulatory framework to cover a broader
range of financial instruments, whether traded on or
The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive off exchange. It will widen the range of ‘core’ invest-
(MiFID) comes into effect 1 November 2007, when ment services and activities that investment firms
it will replace the existing Investment Services can “passport” on a cross border basis into other
Directive (ISD). European Economic Area (EEA) EEA member states.
member states were required to amend their nation-
al legislation and rules to incorporate MiFID require- What benefits will MiFID bring?
ments by 31 January 2007. New services that will be passportable as “core”
MiFID is a major part of the European Union’s activities under MiFID (which were not passportable
Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP), which is under ISD) will include:
designed to help integrate Europe's financial mar- Advice that involves a personal recommendation;
kets. MiFID comprises two levels of European legis- Operation of a multilateral trading facility (MTF);
lation. Level 1, the directive itself, was adopted in and
April 2004. Level 2, MiFID’s “technical implement- Dealing in commodity derivatives, credit deriva-
ing measures”, were developed with the advice of tives and financial contracts for differences.

It seems only yesterday that MiFID was a train that had just
left the station. Now this train suddenly appears to be nearing
its destination, and yet it remains to be seen if quite all of the
tracks to a “harmonised Europe” have been laid
the Committee of European Securities Regulators To facilitate cross border business, MiFID is
(CESR) and were the subject of negotiation at the intended to improve the passport regime by allocat-
European level in the European Securities ing responsibility between “home state” versus
Committee (ESC). They were formally adopted by “host state” regulators, including with respect to
the Commission and published in the Official regulation of cross border branches.
Journal of the European Union on 2 September MiFID is intended to facilitate greater harmonisa-
2006. tion across EEA member states by prescribing more
detailed requirements governing the organisation
Who is affected? and conduct of business of investment firms and
MiFID extends the coverage of the current ISD and how regulated markets and MTFs operate. It also
introduces new and more extensive requirements provides for new and consistently applied pre- and
that will apply to investment firms across Europe, post-trade transparency requirements for equity
including investment banks, brokers, exchanges, markets across Europe; the creation of a new
alternative trading systems, ECNs, investment man- regime for ‘systematic internalisers’ of retail order
agers and others. MiFID’s impact on some firms is flow in liquid equities; and more extensive (but con-
not entirely clear at the time of this writing: for sistent) transaction reporting requirements.
example, many banks and depositories/custodians Finally, although most firms covered by MiFID
will be subject to MiFID in respect of some parts of will also have to comply with the new Capital
their business (for example, to the extent they sell Requirements Directive (CRD), it is expected that
securities, or investment products which contain most regulators will (as the UK FSA and other mem-
40 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008
SLMG 2007 pp34-49 10/9/07 4:44 pm Page 41

MiFID is intended to facilitate greater harmonisation across


EEA member states by prescribing more detailed requirements
governing the organisation and conduct of business of invest-
ment firms and how regulated markets and MTFs operate
ber state regulators have done) permit such firms to It seems only yesterday that MiFID was a train
implement the new capital requirements on a “com- that had just left the station. Now this train sudden-
mon platform” basis. ly appears to be nearing its destination, and yet it
remains to be seen if quite all of the tracks to a “har-
Application to stock lending: Best execution monised Europe” have been laid. With only three
Individual securities lending relationships tend to be months to go before MiFID takes effect, regulators,
highly customised, with trades by lenders often industry associations and regulated firms will be
involving different portfolio structures and providing scrambling to implement required changes and
for different reinvestment options. As a result, the digest new clarifications that have yet to emerge. It
concept of comprehensive benchmarking – a neces- is hoped that MiFID will bring to Europe the bene-
sity if MiFID best execution concepts are to apply – fits the Commission has promised, and it is possi-
does not lend itself well to the securities lending ble some firms may be able to take advantage of
environment. In addition, MiFID requirements relat- them. In any case, Brown Brothers Harriman will
ing to order execution are premised on orders for continue to monitor developments closely. Watch
execution being “purchases” or “sales”, which secu- this space. SLMG
rities lending transactions most certainly are not.
Furthermore, lenders do not deliver “orders” for exe- Elizabeth Seidel, senior vice president, co-manager of
cution. BBH Global Securities Lending
While securities lending transactions have been Elizabeth Seidel joined BBH in 1999 and was recent-
excluded from MiFID’s trade and transaction report- ly appointed department co-manager for Global
ing requirements for some time, there remains con- Securities Lending. In her new role, Seidel has manage-
tinued uncertainty as to whether MiFID’s best exe- ment responsibility for Relationship Management, Risk
cution requirements will or can apply to securities Management, Sales, and Marketing groups. Seidel has
lending activity. In its 07/15 Policy Statement, the over 15 years experience in the industry, 11 of which
FSA noted that: “Depending on how a securities involve securities lending. Prior to joining BBH, she
lending transaction is structured and depending on worked at Boston Global Advisors and was in charge of
the status of the client (as retail, professional or eli- Client Service and at State Street Bank in their
gible counterparty) it is possible, using the analysis Securities Lending Division in both Trading and
in the Commission’s response to CESR, that best Operations. In addition, Seidel
execution requirements could apply. Firms are there- has worked at Wellington
fore advised to carefully review the Commission’s Management Company, LLP in a
response in the context of the particular facts and client service capacity and prior to
circumstances of their businesses.” that on the trading desk at a
With the 1 November 2007 deadline fast global hedge fund; Teton
approaching, the industry is running out of time to Partners, LLP for two years.
alter course and there will be continued discussion Seidel received a Bachelor of Arts
around this topic especially with the regulators: in Economics from College of the
“intending to facilitate greater use of industry guid- Holy Cross and is series 7 and
ance as we move towards a more principles-based series 63 licensed.
approach to regulation”.
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 41
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RBC Dexia - TALKING TACTICS

introduction of the Pension Protection Act (PPA) and new


A new era standards for corporate plans from the Financial Accounting
Standards Board (FASB). Public plans must now adhere to
beckons new rules from the Government Accounting Standards Board
(GASB).
“The PPA has increased DB plan funding requirements and
The international securities accelerated the timeframes to fully fund a plan,” noted
Pyramis Global Investors, the institutional money manage-
lending industry stands poised ment arm of Fidelity Investments, the Canadian mutual fund
on the verge of an exciting company, in its fifth annual DB survey, carried out amongst
large US corporate and public DB plans. The changes mandat-
new era, says Mark ed by FASB and GASB require organisations to report their
Fieldhouse pension plan deficits or surpluses on the income statement.
In the face of these new regulatory pressures, many plans
The trend for traditional long only investment managers have been forced to re-examine their investment approaches.
to begin adopting hedge fund style investment tactics will The concerns identified in the survey show a marked shift in
bring about a realignment of existing securities lending busi- attitudes toward any investment strategy that can reduce
ness and create new opportunities for incremental business. volatility or improve returns, noted Peter Chiappinelli, senior
The outlook for custodians in such a market is clearly opti- vice president at Pyramis. The survey also showed that half of
mistic. But while the fund management side of the equation is all corporate DB plans claimed that they were using (or con-
excited by the rise of 130/30 funds, they must be wary as they sidering using) liability driven investment.
enter uncharted waters. The new approach will create risk and Second, it is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve
compliance requirements, heightening the need for fund man- alpha through traditional long only investment. With efficient
agers to tap into the talents and services of established exter- and transparent markets, conventional long only active invest-
nal providers of securities services. ment will inevitably deliver returns only slightly above beta.
Custodians are the obvious providers of those services, This has resulted in pension funds becoming more aggressive
aligning the front, middle and back offices to make the transi- in their investment style, moving some of their assets away
tion to a brave new investment world smooth and efficient, from benchmark sensitive approaches to make meaningful
helping to meet not just 130/30 needs, but providing addition- allocations to alternative assets and absolute return products.
al services such as securities lending. Securities that a long In addition, a growing number of pension funds are turning to

The advantage of a 130/30 fund for the institutional investor is


that it can take a step in the direction of hedge fund style
investment without unduly increasing risk
the bond and derivatives markets to implement liability driven
only manager will traditionally have lent to earn a few extra investment (LDI) strategies.
basis points will in future be pledged as collateral for stock The advantage of a 130/30 fund for the institutional
being borrowed. Custodians can manage collateral as well as investor is that it can take a step in the direction of hedge
provide liquidity, through a one stop shop that other market fund style investment without unduly increasing risk. Active
participants cannot duplicate. extensions that provide positive alphas can significantly
Why is this happening and why now? The underlying rea- increase a fund’s total return with only a minimal impact on
sons for such a significant change are well rehearsed and reas- the overall volatility of the portfolio. With appropriate risk con-
suringly familiar. trol, they can be viewed as an ‘extension’ of traditional equity
First, the demand for alpha is ever more apparent to the management, rather than as a quantum leap into full blown
institutional investor base and, in particular, to pension funds. alternative assets.
Low interest rates and poor or negative investment returns in In a 130/30 fund, up to 30% of the portfolio can be shorted
the internet boom and bust years of the early 2000s have left with the proceeds from the short sales used to purchase 30%
many traditional defined benefit (DB) pension funds with additional longs. Hence, the portfolio maintains a 100% net
huge deficits. Although those deficits could be reduced by ris- long exposure with gross footings of 130% long and 30%
ing markets, rules for funding those deficits have forced many short.
companies to direct large sums of cash to their pension funds. The potential for growth is significant. According to
In 2006, for instance, the US pension industry experienced Morgan Stanley, US institutions, including pension funds,
significant regulatory and accounting changes, including the

42 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp34-49 10/9/07 4:44 pm Page 43

have invested approximately USD50 billion in this strategy; in nity by investing even more heavily in technology and capabili-
contrast to USD2 trillion in hedge funds worldwide. The ties, extending the traditional relationship beyond post-trade
Pyramis survey, meanwhile, shows that 63% of US corporate servicing by supporting clients’ portfolio construction strate-
defined benefit pension plans are already deploying or are gies.
considering deploying a 130/30 strategy in place of long only The volume of lendable assets is growing almost by the day
mandates. and the percentage of lendable assets being lent is also grow-
Widespread adoption will have a positive impact on securi- ing, as more markets ease restrictions on short selling, more
ties lending. The convergence between hedge fund strategies fund managers become accustomed to doing it, and more
and traditional asset management strategies is a major ele- institutions grow comfortable with lending their assets. That
ment of change in securities lending that will drive growth for volume will continue to rise as the market adapts to the
several years, probably at an accelerated rate, just as hedge underlying changes that are taking place in investment philos-
funds have done for the past five to 10 years. The benefit for ophy and practice.
the securities lending industry is that it will bring new, incre- There has probably never been a better time to be a securi-
mental demand for the service. A prime broker may be able to ties lender. Beneficial owners are spoilt for choice, both in
offer an exclusive programme to a particular institution, but terms of the range of service providers and the routes to mar-
that is not going to satisfy all its day to day needs, since any ket. There is strong competition for every mandate, leading to

The potential for growth is significant. According to Morgan


Stanley, US institutions, including pension funds, have invest-
ed approximately USD50 billion in this strategy; in contrast to
USD2 trillion in hedge funds worldwide
one prime broker is unlikely to control enough of the required greater market effectiveness and innovation. That competition
liquidity to have a significant impact. Prime brokers must have is very healthy for all sides of the securities lending market.
access to the liquidity pool – and it is primarily the custodians A portfolio manager may invest USD100 in a basket of
who provide that pool. stocks, such as those in the Russell 3000 Index. A short is
Unless institutions decide to handle in-house the addition- then placed on an additional USD30 in stocks from that pool
al administration, processing and reporting that will be that is believed to be overvalued. The manager borrows
required, they will need to use the services of established USD30 worth of those overvalued stocks, and sells them in
providers. Setting up the necessary infrastructure would be the expectation that they can be replaced later with cheaper
prohibitively expensive. Robust intraday VaR reporting, cou- shares when the price falls. The proceeds from that short sale
pled with dynamic, real time collateral management, will be are then used to purchase stocks which are thought to be
needed to enable lenders to exercise greater collateral flexibili- undervalued so that the manager ends up with USD130 now
ty, while allowing traditionally long only institutional investors invested in traditional long positions.
to execute alpha-based strategies. Additionally, an advanced, A manager bullish about prospects for the IT sector, but
Basel II complaint risk management framework and infra- with a more positive view of Apple than of Microsoft, could sell
structure will be an advantage for lenders in mitigating risk. Microsoft short, borrowing stock to enable the sale, and use
The custodian is the logical choice to provide all these func- the proceeds to buy Apple.
tions in a single, integrated solution. Custodians have the infrastructure,
For agent lenders, the change is inevitable. The holistic the staff, the experience and the
model of lending means one set of processes, one set of con- expertise to help pursue short exten-
trols and one service. This enhances risk management, sions in a cost effective way. SLMG
because all the client’s activity – exposures, concentrations
and diversification – can all be tracked and validated through Mark Fieldhouse, head, Technical
a single point. Technology and automation will have even Sales, Americas, RBC Dexia Investor
more of a key role to play in the future in terms of operational Services
efficiency, risk management and continual transactional cost
control. Lenders will want to be confident that the various Mark Fieldhouse serves as head,
processes will be seamlessly integrated so that the flow of Technical Sales, Americas. His team
data is automated and in real time, thus reducing the possibil- is responsible for overall growth and development of the
ity of error and loss. Global Products client base, as well as the product level
management of its strategic clients in North America. Global
Part of the strategic focus for providers will be to make
products include securities lending, foreign exchange, cash
available a complete set of services to the alternative commu-
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 43
SLMG 2007 pp34-49 10/9/07 4:44 pm Page 44

COMIT - TECHNOLOGY

Deep impact effectively and reduce the liquidity risk, a cross product collat-
eral view is essential. Furthermore, the buy side, such as
hedge funds, require an integrated product offering. This is
why some market participants have merged organisations or
Felix Oegerli discusses the have at least implemented cross product processes.

impact of technology on the Where are we today?


Today, visions and strategies are defined together with an
securities lending market understanding of the technology involved. IT follows strategy.
However, IT enables new strategy. Depending on the business
When considering the impact of technology in the model and the size of an organisation, the securities lending
context of securities lending, we should look first at the devel- business is more integrated into other business lines, such as
opment of the securities lending industry and how it has been repo, synthetic finance and maybe even OTC derivative collat-
supported by technology. eral management. This is either in the form of integrated
processes or even combined organisations. One of the key
The history success factors for a successful integration of the business
If we look back to the late eighties and early nineties when the lines is a horizontal position-focused IT platform.
international securities finance market started to evolve, we However, typically there is no single IT platform supporting
can break the evolution down into three phases. In the first this business model. A variety of vendor systems are being
phase, international securities lending systems were trade or used, mostly for the books and records, very often, in-house
transaction focused. Volumes and the degree of standardisa- functional add-ons or additional data collection facilities are
tion were relatively low. Automation was not that important developed to at least partly fulfil the business requirements
and the user was happy that the systems could support the for a consolidated view of the positions and transactions.
key processes. The systems available in the market or newly Consequently, a large number of heterogeneous systems and
launched then were not even in real time. In the international interfaces must be supported and reconciled, leading to enor-
marketplace there were very few vendor systems available, mous maintenance costs and the risk of poor data quality. As
most coming from the US domestic market and marketed as the IT structure typically mirrors the business structure, there
multi-currency. The first real international securities lending is often no single point of responsibility for changes. Multiple

The technology requirements to support an integrated, front to


back collateral trading model are substantially higher than for
just a product silo or transaction processing system
system that really had an impact in the market was only built departments have to be coordinated, which is again slow and
in the early nineties. costly.
In the second phase, the market started its consolidation Most of the securities lending trades are still agreed over
phase and extended the number of different trading products. the telephone. Smaller, or from a profitability standpoint less
More technology vendors emerged but, again, they were prod- important, tickets are increasingly done using electronic trad-
uct focused with some degree of additional automation in the ing platforms. Trading using an electronic exchange requires a
post-trade processes. The market reaction was to leverage this minimum degree of standardisation. After a rather slow start,
technology for efficiency by adding interfaces to internal sys- the electronic securities lending exchanges such as EquiLend
tems and internal add-ons. Insufficient emphasis was placed are slowly gaining momentum. EquiLend, which was estab-
on the overall architecture and technologies in place. This has lished in 2001 by a group of major securities lending players,
often led to patchwork style results. has certainly added value by allowing participants to transact
The third phase started in the late nineties, when business- and reconcile through a secure hub. While these efficiency and
es did not concentrate on single products but more on posi- standardisation gains are important, it has not yet added
tions across many different product lines. Traditionally, the enough value to the transparency issue.
securities lending business was equity focused, the bench- With the increasing volumes and complexity of the securi-
mark bond repo business more treasury related, and the cor- ties finance business, risk management has become a key
porate and emerging market repo was more of a debt financ- component of an IT solution. Counterparty and operational
ing business. Many broker-dealers and universal banks were risks are the most important risks in securities finance. The
organised accordingly. Over recent years, it has been recog- main risk categories include compliance with regulations such
nised that collateral is increasingly becoming a currency. In as tax, poor legal documentation, quality of data in general
order to finance a financial institution’s balance sheet more and, last but not least, the valuation of exposures and collater-

44 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp34-49 10/9/07 4:44 pm Page 45

al, including sophisticated analysis of volatility and liquidity vent the overuse of positions or not actively funding or selling
risk. As the current liquidity crisis shows, the application of positions. Counterpart and trading positions must be kept
stress tests not just to market volatility but also with regard to and updated in real time for risk management purposes. Real-
market reaction on the short term funding side, for example time profit and loss figures will provide the required informa-
changes of collateral and margining rules, is key. Most of the tion to optimise the book and close out unprofitable transac-

Most of the securities lending trades are still agreed over the
telephone. Smaller, or from a profitability standpoint less
important, tickets are increasingly done using electronic trad-
ing platforms. Trading using an electronic exchange requires a
minimum degree of standardisation
technology available in the market does not address counter- tions or to replace them with cheaper sources.
party and systemic risk sufficiently. Additionally, the data model of such an application must be
designed for maximum flexibility from the beginning. All exist-
Where do we go in the future? ing, but also new, trade types must be supported. This
Traders tend to have short memories and are therefore suscepti- includes single security, security versus cash, but even security
ble to short term trends. The electronic securities lending plat- versus security transactions. All future flows of financial
forms, which were launched in the midst of the ‘hype’ of e-busi- instruments must be presented as cash flows, which will allow
ness, are focused on increasing distribution and hence making for all types of synthetic securities finance transactions such
more money. However, between 2000 and 2003, the industry as total return swap and OTC options transactions, but also
was, for the first time, faced with decreasing income. This may for other future transaction types.
have changed the focus of these electronic marketplaces almost Additional features, such as ‘pluggable’ classes will allow
entirely to efficiency gains and hence cost cutting. the functionality of the system to be changed without having
This has only happened partially. Therefore I do not believe to change the core architecture. This reduces the overall costs
that we are going to see a very steep increase in business vol- and time to market for changes. Using standards and open
umes traded electronically until the market demand changes. system technology can reduce the total cost of ownership
Market demand changes can, for example, be based on tax or massively and facilitate the integration effort.
regulatory changes that impact the spreads in securities lend-
ing dramatically in a negative way. This will then lead to fur- So, where does that leave us?
ther commoditisation and standardisation of the business, We, as technology vendors, cannot therefore afford to rest on
which will force market participants to manage the business our laurels. We have to respond to the needs of the market
almost entirely over processes and IT because volume insensi- and create inventive and forward looking systems to help sup-
tivity and low unit cost is going to be critical in the future. This port the business models of the future. SLMG
is why electronic trading platforms are gaining in importance.
I estimate that in 10 years, well over 50% of the market value Felix Oegerli, member of the executive committee, COMIT
volume will be traded electronically. Oegerli is member of the executive committee of COMIT, a
consulting, IT solutions and
Technology requirements integration partner of the finance
The technology requirements to support an integrated, front industry. He was the founder and
to back collateral trading model are substantially higher than CEO of IFBS, an IT application
for just a product silo or transaction processing system. First, solutions and consulting firm spe-
the architecture must be scalable as to the distribution of cialising in securities lending, repo
functionality across servers. This is typically achieved with and collateral management. IFBS
service-based architectures, which allow multiple instances of was recently sold to COMIT. Prior
the same services in order to achieve high performance and to launching IFBS, Oegerli held a
availability. Service-based architectures are also the way to number of business leadership
integrate systems across the net, mainly by using web servic- roles at UBS in Zurich, New York,
es. Transaction processing services for settlement, audit trail, and London for over 20 years in
and accounting should be loosely coupled using message ori- different functions. Between 1990
ented middleware as separation layer. and 1999, he was responsible for
Secondly, real-time information has become a necessity. In the creation and expansion of the Securities Lending, Repo
cross product systems, multiple users with different business and Prime Brokerage business at UBS Zurich, was deputy
intentions may use the same positions. Only real-time global head of Securities Lending and Repo, global head of
updates on positions, preferably on a ‘push’ basis (meaning Prime Brokerage and head of global product management
the user does not have to actively query the system) will pre- Collateral Trading and Management.
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 45
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PANEL - TECHNOLOGY

SECURITIES LENDING PANEL


TECHNOLOGY DEBATE
Benjamin Glicher is chief technology officer of EquiLend and is charged with the goal of
building a scalable, secure, and highly available technology platform. His responsibilities
include all aspects of the infrastructure and application development areas of the EquiLend
system. Prior to joining EquiLend in January 2002, Glicher was the managing director of
Financial Services Technology at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Earlier in his career, he was chief
technology officer at Global Market Information, a subsidiary of Track Data Corporation.
Glicher received his BS in computer science from Brooklyn College, a member of the City
University of New York, in 1982.

Felix Oegerli is member of the executive committee of COMIT, a consulting, IT and


integration partner of the finance industry. He was the founder and CEO of IFBS, an IT
application solutions and consulting firm specialising in securities lending, repo and
collateral management. IFBS was recently sold to COMIT. Prior to launching IFBS, Oegerli
held a number of business leadership roles at UBS in Zurich, New York, and London for over
20 years in different functions. Between 1990 and 1999 he was responsible for the creation
and expansion of the Securities Lending, Repo and Prime Brokerage business at UBS
Zurich, was deputy global head of Securities Lending and Repo, global head of Prime
Brokerage and head of global product management, Collateral Trading and Management.

Daniel Fowler is chief information officer and managing director of eSecLending. Fowler’s
primary responsibilities within eSecLending are for systems and information technology and
application. Prior to joining the firm in 2006, Fowler held several jobs that gave him broad
exposure to both technology and financial markets. Most recently, he was employed by
Brown Brothers Harriman as vice president of Systems, Private Account and Securities
Lending. Prior to that, he worked at Boston Global Advisors as vice president, head of
Technology. Fowler holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts.

There has been a significant increase in automated capability for securities lending
over the last few years, how has this
affected the market in general?
Glicher: Automation enables a firm to scale its business in a more cost efficient manner. EquiLend’s platform
offers the ability to automate the entire lifecycle of a trade. Trades are delivered machine to machine, allowing
potentially an infinite amount of trades to be processed, so that individuals can focus on the more complex
and relationship oriented transactions. Once the trade is initiated, all of EquiLend’s post-trade services are
46 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2007
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available to complete the lifecycle of the contract. regard to securities lending technology would be
Contract, marks, and billing can be reconciled daily, slightly exaggerated. Technology has helped the busi-
mitigating risk. ness to become more efficient for trading general
Oegerli: It is important to highlight that the market collateral tickets and on the post-trade reconciliation
demand transformation drives the business model and trade reporting side. Technology is available to
transformation and not vice versa. Technology will further increase the level of automation on the trad-
never drive a business model but will enable it. In ing side. However, the business requires further
the past, technology mainly had an impact on standardisation in order to fully automate the trad-
process automation and therefore cost. The electron- ing process and this may take well over 10 years.
ic securities lending platforms, which were launched
in the midst of the e-business ‘hype’, were focused Fowler: The greatest technology innovations for the
on widening the distribution network and increasing securities lending industry are taking place in the
profits. However, between 2000 and 2003, the indus- areas of automation and volume processing to cre-
try was for the first time faced with slower growth or, ate greater operational processing efficiencies. A cur-
in some cases, falling revenues. This may have rent important initiative taking shape within the
changed the focus of these electronic marketplaces market is the Automated Recall Management
mainly to efficiency gains in the securities lending Software (ARMS) project. This initiative will allow
trading area and to the post-trade processes. These recalls to be processed via automated systems, in

Trades are delivered machine to machine, allowing potentially


an infinite amount of trades to be processed, so that
individuals can focus on the more complex and relationship
oriented transactions
processes will become more and more standardised which all information would be communicated over
and will eventually be fully automated. So the answer the same standard messaging system. This will
is that technology will facilitate greater efficiency and greatly improve operational processing and reduce
transparency, but will only be a small factor for fur- fail risk for securities lending activities. In the area
ther growth in the sense of lower entry barriers to of volume processing, securities lending vendors like
this market. LoanNet, EquiLend, and Prium are standardising
interfaces with counterparties and simplifying the
Fowler: In general, the increase in automated capa- reconciliation of operational processing, as well as
bilities for the securities lending market has resulted billing comparisons and contract comparisons.
in an ability to better manage increased lending vol- These initiatives create greater efficiencies,
umes and trading activity. Technology has created improved processing, and provide for more reliable
greater operational processing efficiencies for agent and scalable operations, which in turn, more easily
lenders and borrowers, which has helped to reduce enables lenders and borrowers to successfully man-
operational costs and human resource requirements. age increased flows and volume processing.

Where are the greatest innovations Which platforms are dominating the mar-
in technology being seen for securities ket and why?
lending?
Glicher: EquiLend has a strong presence in the mar-
Glicher: The move to a real-time messaging para- ketplace, as it is the most innovative technology
digm and the use of the web browser as the ubiqui- platform. EquiLend was the first securities finance
tous user interface. platform to introduce real-time messaging, the first
platform to handle the complete lifecycle of a con-
Oegerli: To speak about great innovations with tract (trade and post-trade) and the first firm to cre-

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2007 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 47


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PANEL - TECHNOLOGY

ate a standard XML taxonomy, Securities Lending Fowler: There are a number of key factors to consid-
Market Language (SLML). EquiLend created this pro- er when choosing a new technology platform: full
tocol to facilitate the exchange of securities financ- functionality for various business areas; open archi-
ing information. There is SLML representation for all tecture that can be supported internally; and con-
of the business functionality that our users employ. nectivity to allow for communications with legacy
systems and other downstream systems within the
Fowler: In terms of core securities lending systems, organisation. For eSecLending, it is imperative that
SunGard’s Global One is the dominant platform in our core securities lending system be able to feed
the marketplace. There are various reasons for information downstream into other reporting and
Global One’s dominance, but the primary reasons transaction processing systems. We would not
for SunGard’s success with this product is that choose a platform that could not adequately com-
Global One has been around the longest, it has a municate and upload/download information to the
robust suite of functionality and it is not prohibitive- supporting or secondary systems used for transac-
ly expensive. 4Sight, which is the securities lending tion processing. In addition, ongoing support from
system that eSecLending uses, is still a relatively a vendor is crucial, as is their willingness to work
small player in the market but the platform is gain- with you and improve and enhance the system’s
ing greater market share and momentum. 4Sight’s functionality.
architecture is a bit more open and sits on an Oracle
database, which allows for ease of integration and What effect are requirements for greater
support. Anvil is another player in the market. transparency having on the technology
What are the key factors to consider when landscape in securities lending?
choosing a new technology platform? Glicher: Increased automation results in data, which
can, conceptually, be provided on demand, based on
Glicher: Ease of use, cost, and penetration in the the appropriate request.
marketplace.

In the area of volume processing, securities lending vendors


like LoanNet, EquiLend, and Prium are standardising
interfaces with counterparties and simplifying the reconciliation
of operational processing, as well as billing comparisons and
contract comparisons
Oegerli: Technology is available for the reporting and
Oegerli: Selecting a market technology platform analysis of transactions. However, despite the
should be based on an internal business case that increased transparency over the last few years, there
compares the additional income generated through a is still a long way to go. Full transparency on pricing
better distribution system and the cost savings on involves a lot of complex benchmarking including,
post-trade processes to the investment required to for example, counterparty specific internal trading,
integrate the platform plus the running cost. Another risk and funding policies. Furthermore, information
key consideration is the current and anticipated suc- about market depth would also be required. I believe
cess in getting market participants to use the service, that full transparency is only going to be achieved
ensuring a certain market depth and liquidity in case when the market is commoditised and this may take
of trading platforms. Experience has shown that only over 10 years.
user driven market platforms will succeed.
48 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2007
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Fowler: Lenders are looking to increase transparen- What is the future for technology in this
cy in their securities lending activities to ensure an area – where next?
objective, regulatory friendly and highly auditable
programme that can be easily presented to their Glicher: Web services - offering the ability to trans-
management team, board, auditors and regulators mit messaging through web technologies, Web 2.0,
lender and allows for objective decision making on and service oriented architecture (SOA). Securities
how to best allocate portfolios for lending. The auc- lending has matured to the point where it can move
tion process also provides price transparency and away from monolithic, complex, stand alone systems
price discovery, thereby giving clients the opportuni- into more manageable components working within a
ty to definitively identify where the greatest demand distributed systems architecture. The services, both
exists for various pieces of their portfolios. trading and reconciliation, can be self contained and
The desire for greater transparency has also created do not need to depend on the context or state of the
the need for comprehensive benchmarking services. other services. This will lead us to an SOA or a col-
There are multiple providers in the industry offering lection of services or functionalities that communi-
solutions to help lenders better evaluate their secu- cate with each other.
rities lending performance and compare their

Another key consideration is the current and anticipated suc-


cess in getting market participants to use the service, ensuring
a certain market depth and liquidity in case of trading platforms
returns to other industry participants. Oegerli: Further commoditisation and standardisa-
tion of the business will force market participants to
How is risk management affected by manage the business over processes and IT because
these technology platforms? volume insensitivity and low unit cost is going to be
critical in the future. This is why electronic trading
Glicher: Automation mitigates the risk often found platforms are gaining in importance. I estimate that
with manual input. Automating trade and post-trade in 10 years, well over 50% of the market value vol-
processes significantly decreases manual interaction; ume will be traded electronically.
therefore any issues that occur can be remediated in
a more straightforward manner. Fowler: There is significant room in the market for
further automation and technological advancements
Oegerli: Counterparty and operational risks are the for operational processing and trading. For instance,
most important risks in securities finance. The main if the market can get to the point where the dividend
risk categories include compliance with regulations claiming process can also be automated along the
such as tax, poor legal documentation, quality of same lines as recalls, market participants will experi-
data in general and, last but not least, the valuation ence significant improvements in terms of cost and
of exposures and collateral, including sophisticated resource reductions.
analysis of volatility and liquidity risk, including the More broadly speaking, I imagine the securities lend-
application of stress tests. In order to minimise the ing market will also one day explore how to better
risk in securities lending, technology is key. Market integrate lending activities with the traditional
technology platforms may reduce some of the opera- investment management decisions. Using newer web
tional risk but they do not address counterparty risk. services technology you may find investment man-
This is a key process for each individual securities agers using their fund’s lending data to calculate
finance participant. whether there is a better economic decision to recall-
ing a security or leaving it on loan. SLMG
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Securities Lending GUIDE

Securities Lending GUIDE


A guide to the machinery of the securities lending market
Securities lending began as an informal practice among bro- Different types of securities loan transaction:
kers who had insufficient share certificates to settle their sold Most securities loans in today’s markets are made against col-
bargains, commonly because their selling clients had mislaid lateral in order to protect the lender against the possible
their certificates or just not provided them to the broker by the default of the borrower. This collateral can be cash, or other
settlement date of the transaction. Once the broker had securities or other assets.
received the certificates, they would be passed on to the lend-
ing broker. This business arrangement was subject to no for- (a) Transactions collatteralised with other
mal agreement and there was no exchange of collateral. securities or assets
Securities lending is now an important and significant busi- Non-cash collateral would typically be drawn from the follow-
ness that describes the market practice whereby securities are ing collateral types:
temporarily transferred by one party (lender) to another (bor- * Government Bonds - Issued by G7, G10 or Non-G7 govern-
rower). The borrower is obliged to return the securities to the ments
lender, either on demand, or at the end of any agreed term. For * Corporate Bonds - Various credit ratings
the period of the loan the lender is secured by acceptable * Convertible Bonds - Matched or unmatched to the securi-
assets delivered by the borrower to the lender as collateral. ties being lent
Under English law, absolute title to the securities “lent” pass- * Equities - Of specified Indices
es to the “borrower”, who is obliged to return “equivalent secu- * Letters of Credit - From banks of a specified credit quality
rities.” Similarly the lender receives absolute title to the assets * Certificates of Deposit - Drawn on institutions of a speci-
received as collateral from the borrower, and is obliged to fied credit quality
return “equivalent collateral.” * Delivery By Value (“DBVs”)1 - Concentrated or *
Securities lending today plays a major part in the efficient Unconcentrated - Of a certain asset class
functioning of the securities markets worldwide. Yet it remains * Warrants - Matched or unmatched to the securities
poorly understood by many of those outside the market. being lent
*Other money market instruments
Definitions The eligible collateral will be agreed between the parties, as
In some ways, the term “securities lending” is misleading and will other key factors including:
factually incorrect. Under English law and in many other juris- * Notional Limits - The absolute value of any asset to be
dictions, the transaction commonly referred to as “securities accepted as collateral
lending” is, in fact: “a disposal (or sale) of securities linked to * Initial margin - The margin required at the outset of a
the subsequent reacquisition of equivalent securities by means transaction
of an agreement.” * Maintenance margin - The minimum margin level to be
Such transactions are collateralised and the “rental fee” maintained throughout the transaction
charged, along with all other aspects of the transaction, are * Concentration limits - The maximum percentage of any
dealt with under the terms agreed between the parties. It is issue to be acceptable, for example less than 5% of daily
entirely possible and very commonplace that securities are bor- traded volume - The maximum percentage of collateral pool
rowed and then sold or on-lent. that can be taken against the same issuer, i.e. the
There are some consequences arising from this clarification: cumulative effect where collateral in the form of letters of
- Absolute title over both the securities on loan and the collat- credit, CD, equity, bond and convertible may be issued by the
eral received passes between the parties. same firm
- The economic benefits associated with ownership – for exam-
ple, dividends, coupons – are “manufactured” back to the
lender, meaning that the borrower is entitled to these benefits
The borrower is obliged to return
as owner of the securities but is under a contractual obligation the securities to the lender,
to make equivalent payments to the lender.
- A lender of equities surrenders its rights of ownership, for
either on demand, or at the end
example, voting. Should the lender wish to vote on securities of any agreed term
on loan, it has the contractual right to recall equivalent securi-
ties from the borrower. The example in the diagram shows collateral being held by a
- In the United Kingdom appropriately documented securities Tri Party Agent. This specialist agent (typically a large custodian
lending transactions avoid two taxes: Stamp Duty Reserve Tax bank or International Central Securities Depository) will receive
and Capital Gains Tax. only eligible collateral from the borrower and hold it in a segre-
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TRANSACTIONS COLLATERALISED WITH OTHER The other transactions include:


SECURITIES OR ASSETS
(a) Sale and repurchhase agreements
Lender Borrower Sale and repurchase agreements or repos involve one party
agreeing to sell securities to another against a transfer of cash,
Reporting with a simultaneous agreement to repurchase the same securi-
Reporting Collateral ties (or equivalent securities) at a specific price on an agreed
date in the future. It is common for the terms ”seller” and
Tri Party “buyer” to replace the securities lending terms “lender” and
Loan Commences Agent
”borrower”. Most repos are governed by a master agreement
called the TBMA/ISMA Global Master Repurchase Agreement
(GMRA)2.
Lender Borrower Repos occur for two principal reasons – either to transfer
ownership of a particular security between the parties or to
facilitate collateralised cash loans or funding transactions.
Collateral The bulk of bond lending and bond financing is conducted by
repo and there is a growing equity repo market. An annex can
Tri Party be added to the GMRA to facilitate the conduct of equity repo
Agent transactions.
Loan Terminates
Repos are much like securities loans collateralised against
cash, in that income is factored into an interest rate that is
implicit in the pricing of the two legs of the transaction.
gated account to the order of the lender. The Tri Party Agent At the beginning of a transaction, securities are valued and
will mark this collateral to market, with information distributed sold at the prevailing “dirty” market price (including any
to both lender and borrower (in the diagram, dotted coupon that has accrued). At termination, the securities are
“Reporting” lines). Typically the borrower pays a fee to the Tri resold at a predetermined price equal to the original sale price
Party agent. together with interest at a previously agreed rate known as the
There is debate within the industry as to whether lenders that repo rate.
are flexible in the range of non-cash collateral they are willing In securities-driven transactions (where the motivation is not
to receive are rewarded with correspondingly higher fees. Some simply financing) the repo rate is typically set at a lower rate
argue that they are, others claim that the fees remain largely than prevailing money market rates to reward the “lender” who
static but that borrowers are more prepared to deal with a flexi- will invest the funds in the money markets and thereby seek a
ble lender and therefore balances and overall revenue rise. return. The “lender” often receives a margin by pricing the
securities above their market level.
(b) Transactions collateralised with cash In cash-driven transactions, the repurchase price will typically
Cash collateral is, and has been for many years, an integral part be agreed at a level close to current money market yields, as
of the securities lending business, particularly in the United this is a financing rather than a security specific transaction.
States. The lines between two distinct activities. The right to substitute repoed securities as collateral is agreed
Securities lending and cash reinvestment have become by the parties at the outset. A margin is often provided to the
blurred and to many US investment institutions securities cash “lender” by reducing the value of the transferred securi-
lending is virtually synonymous with cash reinvestment. This is ties by an agreed “haircut” or discount.
much less the case outside the United States but consolidation
of the custody business and the important role of US custodian (b) Buy/sell backs
banks in the market means that this practice is becoming more Buy/sell backs are similar in economic terms to repos but are
prevalent. The importance of this point lies in the very different structured as a sale and simultaneous purchase of securities,
risk profiles of these increasingly intertwined activities. with the purchase agreed for a future settlement date. The
The revenue generated from cash-collateralised securities price of the forward purchase is typically calculated and agreed
lending transactions is derived in a different manner from that by reference to market repo rates.
in a non-cash transaction. It is made from the difference or The purchaser of the securities receives absolute title to them
“spread” between interest rates that are paid and received by and retains any accrued interest and coupon payments during
the lender. the life of the transaction. However, the price of the forward
contract takes account of any coupons received by the
Other transaction types purchaser.
Securities lending is part of a larger set of interlinked securities Buy/sell back transactions are normally conducted for financ-
financing markets. These transactions are often used as alter- ing purposes and involve fixed income securities. In general a
native ways of achieving similar economic outcomes, although cash borrower does not have the right to substitute collateral.
the legal form and accounting and tax treatments can differ. Until 1996, the bulk of buy/sell back transactions took place
outside of a formal legal framework with contract notes being

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Securities Lending GUIDE

TRANSACTIONS COLLATERALISED WITH CASH


opportunity to lend than in the United States, many asset man-
Loan agers run significant securities lending operations.
What was once a back office low profile activity is now a front
Lender Borrower office growth area for many asset managers. The relationship
Cash
that the asset managers have with their underlying clients puts
Collateral them in a strong position to
Cash participate.
Money (b) Custodian banks
Markets
Loan Commences The history of securities lending is inextricably linked with the
custodian banks. Once they recognised the potential to act as
agent intermediaries and began marketing the service to their
Loan customers, they were able to mobilise large pools of securities
that were available for lending. This in turn spurred the growth
Lender Borrower
Cash of the market.
Most large custodians have added securities lending to their
Collateral core custody businesses. Their advantages include: the existing
Cash
banking relationship with their customers; their investment in
technology and global coverage of markets, arising from their
Money
Markets custody businesses; the ability to pool assets from many small-
Loan Terminates er underlying funds, insulating borrowers from the administra-
tive inconvenience of dealing with many small funds and pro-
the only form of record. In 1995, the GMRA was amended to viding borrowers with protection from recalls; and experience
incorporate an annex that dealt explicitly with buy/sell backs. in developing as well as developed markets.
Most buy/sell backs are now governed by this agreement. Being banks, they also have the capability to provide indem-
nities and manage cash collateral efficiently – two critical fac-
Lenders and intermediaries tors for many underlying clients.
The securities lending market involves various types of special- Custody is so competitive a business that for many providers
ist intermediary which take principal and/or agency roles. it is a loss making activity. However, it enables the custodians
These intermediaries separate the underlying owners of securi- to provide a range of additional services to their client base.
ties – typically large pension or other funds, and insurance These may include foreign exchange, trade execution, securi-
companies – from the eventual borrowers of securities ties lending and fund accounting.
Intermediaries (c) Third-party agents
1. Agent intermediaries Advances in technology and operational efficiency have made
Securities lending is increasingly becoming a volume busi- it possible to separate the administration of securities lending
ness and the economies of scale offered by agents that pool from the provision of basic custody services, and a number of
together the securities of different clients enable smaller own- specialist third-party agency lenders have established them-
ers of assets to participate in the market. The costs associated selves as an alternative to the custodian banks.
with running an efficient securities lending operation are Their market share is currently growing from a relatively
beyond many smaller funds for which this is a peripheral activi- small base. Their focus on securities lending and their ability to
ty. Asset managers and custodian banks have added securities deploy new technology without reference to legacy systems can
lending to the other services they offer to owners of securities give them flexibility.
portfolios, while third party lenders specialise in providing
securities lending services. 2. Prrincipal intermediaries
Owners and agents “split” revenues from securities lending There are three broad categories of principal intermediary:
at commercial rates. The split will be determined by many fac- - Broker dealers
tors including the service level and provision by the agent of - Specialist intermediaries
any risk mitigation, such as an indemnity. Securities lending is - Prime brokers
often part of a much bigger relationship and therefore the split
negotiation can become part of a bundled approach to the pric- In contrast to the agent intermediaries, they can assume
ing of a wide range of services. principal risk, offer credit intermediation and take positions in
the securities that they borrow. Distinctions between the three
(a) Asset managers categories are blurred. Many firms would be in all three.
It can be argued that securities lending is an asset manage- In recent years, securities lending markets have been liber-
ment activity – a point that is easily understood in considering alised to a significant extent so that there is little general
the reinvestment of cash collateral. Particularly in Europe, restriction on who can borrow and who can lend securities.
where custodian banks were perhaps slower to take up the Lending can, in principle, take place directly between benefi-

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cial owners and the eventual borrowers. But typically a number Many broker dealers combine their securities lending activi-
of layers of intermediary are involved. What value do the inter- ties with their prime brokerage operation (the business of serv-
mediaries add? icing the broad requirements of hedge funds and other alterna-
A beneficial owner may well be an insurance company or a tive investment managers). This can bring significant efficiency
pension scheme while the ultimate borrower could be a hedge and cost benefits. Typically within broker dealers the fixed
fund. Institutions will often be reluctant to take on credit expo- income and equity divisions duplicate their lending and financ-
sures to borrowers that are not well recognised, regulated, or ing activities.
who do not have a good credit rating, which would exclude
most hedge funds. (b) Specialist intermediaries
In these circumstances, the principal intermediary (often act- Historically, regulatory controls on participation in stock
ing as prime broker) performs a credit intermediation service lending markets meant that globally there were many interme-
in taking a principal position between the lending institution diaries. Some specialised in intermediating between stock
and the hedge fund.
A further role of the intermediaries is to take on liquidity risk.
Typically they will borrow from institutions on an open basis –
Historically, regulatory controls
giving them the option to recall the underlying securities if they on participation in stock lending
want to sell them or for other reasons – whilst lending to
clients on a term basis, giving them certainty that they will be
markets meant that globally
able to cover their short positions. there were many intermediaries
In many cases, as well as serving the needs of their own pro-
priety traders, principal intermediaries provide a service to the lenders and market makers in particular, e.g. UK Stock
market in matching the supply of beneficial owners that have Exchange Money Brokers (SEMB). With the deregulation of
large stable portfolios with those that have a high borrowing stock lending markets, these niches have almost all disap-
requirement. They also distribute securities to a wider range of peared.
borrowers than underlying lenders, which may not have the Some of the specialists are now part of larger financial organ-
resources to deal with a large number of counterparts. isations. Others have moved to parent companies that have
These activities leave principal intermediaries exposed to liq- allowed them to expand the range of their activities into propri-
uidity risk if lenders recall securities that have been on lent to etary trading.
borrowers on a term basis. One way to mitigate this risk is to
use in-house inventory where available. For example, propri- (c) Prime brokers
etary trading positions can be a stable source of lending supply Prime brokers serve the needs of hedge funds and other ‘alter-
if the long position is associated with a long-term derivatives native’ investment managers. The business was once viewed,
transaction. simply, as the provision of six distinct services, although many
Efficient inventory management is seen as critical and many others such as capital introduction, risk management, fund
securities lending desks act as central clearers of inventory accounting and start up assistance have now been added:
within their organisations, only borrowing externally when net-
ting of in-house positions is complete. Services provided by prime brokers
This can require a significant technological investment. Other Securities lending is one of the central components of a suc-
ways of mitigating ‘recall risk’ include arrangements to borrow cessful prime brokerage operation, with its scale depending on
securities from affiliated investment management firms, where the strategies of the hedge funds for which the prime broker
regulations permit, and bidding for exclusive (and certain) acts. Two strategies that are heavily reliant on securities bor-
access to securities from other lenders. rowing are long/short equity and convertible bond arbitrage.
On the demand side, intermediaries have historically been The cost associated with the establishment of a full service
dependent upon hedge funds or proprietary traders that make prime broker is steep, and recognised providers have a signifi-
trading decisions. But a growing number of securities lending cant advantage. Some of the newer entrants have been using
businesses within investment banks have either developed total return swaps, contracts for difference and other derivative
“trading” capabilities within their lending or financing depart- transaction types to offer what has become known as “synthet-
ments, or entered into joint ventures with other departments ic prime brokerage”.
or even in some cases their hedge fund customers. The ration- Again securities lending remains a key component of the
ale behind this trend is that the financing component of certain service as the prime broker will still need to borrow securities
trading strategies is so significant that without the loan there is in order to hedge the derivatives positions it has entered into
no trade. with the hedge funds, for example, to cover short positions.
But it is internalised within the prime broker and less obvious
(a) Broker dealers to the client.
Broker dealers borrow securities for a wide range of reasons:
- Market making Beneficial owners
- To support proprietary trading on behalf of clients Those beneficial owners with securities portfolios of sufficient
size to make securities lending worthwhile include:

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Securities Lending GUIDE

- Pension funds (e) Tax jurisdiction and position


- Insurance and assurance companies Borrowers are responsible for "making good" any benefits of
- Mutual funds/unit trusts share ownership (excluding voting rights) as if the securities
- Endowments had not been lent. They must "manufacture" (pay) the eco-
nomic value of dividends to the lender. An institution's tax
When considering whether and how to lend securities, bene- position compared to that of other possible lenders is therefore
ficial owners need first to consider the characteristics of their an important consideration. If the cost of manufacturing divi-
organisations and portfolio. dends or coupons to a lender is low then its assets will be in
greater demand.
1. Organisation characteristics
(a) Management motivation (f) Inventory attractiveness
Some owners lend securities solely to offset custody and "Hot" securities are those in high demand whilst general col-
administrative costs. Others are seeking more significant rev- lateral or general collateral securities are those that are com-
enue. monly available. Needless to say, the "hotter" the portfolio, the
higher the returns to lending.
(b) Technology investment Having examined the organisation and portfolio characteris-
Lenders vary in their willingness to invest in technological tics of the beneficial owner, we must now consider the various
infrastructure to support securities lending. possible routes to market.

(c) Credit risk appetite The possible routes to the securities lending market:
The securities lending market consists of organisations with a (a) Using an asset manager as agent
wide range of credit quality and collateral capabilities. A beneficial owner may find that the asset manager they have
A cautious approach to counterpart selection (AAA only) and chosen, already operates a securities lending programme. This
restrictive collateral guidelines (G7 Bonds) will limit lending route poses few barriers to getting started quickly.
volumes.
(b) Using a custodian as agent
2. Portfolio characteristics This is the least demanding option for a beneficial owner, espe-
cially a new one. They will already have made a major decision
(a) Size in selecting an appropriate custodian. This route also poses
Other things being equal, borrowers prefer large portfolios. few barriers to getting started quickly.

(b) Holdings size (c) Appointing a third party specialist as agent


Loan transactions generally exceed USD250,000. Lesser hold- A beneficial owner who has decided to outsource may decide it
ings are of limited appeal to direct borrowers. Holdings of does not want to use the supplier’s asset manager(s) or custo-
under USD250,000 are probably best deployed through an dian(s), and instead appoint a third-party specialist. This route
agency programme, where they can be pooled with other may mean getting to know and understand a new provider
inventories. prior to getting started. The opportunity cost of any delay
needs to be factored into the decision.
The securities lending market (d) Auctioning a portfolio to borrowers
consists of organisations with a Borrowers demand portfolios for which they bid guaranteed
returns in exchange for gaining exclusive access to them. There
wide range of credit quality and are several different permutations of this auctioning route:
collateral capabilities - Do-it-yourself auctions
- Assisted auctions
- Agent assistance
- Consultancy assistance
(c) Investment strategy - Specialist “auctioneer” assistance
Active investment strategies increase the likelihood of recalls,
making them less attractive than passive portfolios. This is not a new phenomenon but one that has gained a high-
er profile in recent years. A key issue for the beneficial owner
(d) Diversification considering this option is the level of operational support that
Borrowers want portfolios where they need liquidity. A global the auctioned portfolio will require and who will provide it.
portfolio offers the greatest chance of generating a fit. That
said, there are markets that are particularly in demand from e) Selecting one principal borrower
time to time and there are certain borrowers that have a geo- Many borrowers effectively act as wholesale intermediaries and
graphic or asset class focus. have developed global franchises using their expertise and cap-
ital to generate spreads between two principals that remain

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unknown to one another. These principal intermediaries are would want to understand how and why their securities are
sometimes separately incorporated organisations, but more traded.
frequently, parts of larger banks, broker-dealers or investment
banking groups. Acting as principal allows these intermediaries Reasons to borrow
to deal with organisations that the typical beneficial owner may Borrowers, when acting as principals, have no obligation to tell
choose to avoid for credit reasons, for example, hedge funds. lenders or their agents why they are borrowing securities. In
fact they may well not know themselves as they may be on-
(f) Lending directly to proprietary principals lending the securities to proprietary traders or hedge funds
Normally after a period of activity in the lending market using that do not share their trading strategies openly. Some prime
one of the above options, a beneficial owner that is large brokers are deliberately vague when borrowing securities as
enough in its own right, may wish to explore the possibility of they wish to protect their underlying hedge fund customer’s
establishing a business “in house”, lending directly to a selec- trading strategy and motivation.
tion of principal borrowers that are the end-users of their secu- This chapter explains some of the more common reasons
rities. The proprietary borrowers include broker-dealers, market behind the borrowing of securities. In general, these can be
makers and hedge funds. Some have global borrowing needs grouped into: (1) borrowing to cover a short position (settle-
while others are more regionally focused.

(g) Choosing some combination of the above


In many cases, principal
Just as there is no single or correct lending method, so the intermediaries provide a service
options outlined above are not mutually exclusive. Deciding to the market in matching the
not to lend one portfolio does not preclude lending to another;
similarly, lending in one country does not necessitate lending supply of beneficial owners that
in all. Choosing a wholesale intermediary that happens to be a have large stable portfolios with
custodian in the United States and Canada does not mean that
a lender cannot lend Asian assets through a third-party special- those that have a high borrowing
ist, and European assets directly to a panel of proprietary bor- requirement
rowers.
The borrowing motivation ment coverage, naked shorting, market making, arbitrage trad-
One of the central questions commonly asked by issuers and ing); (2) borrowing as part of a financing transaction motivated
investors alike is “Why does the borrower borrow my securi- by the desire to lend cash; and (3) borrowing to transfer owner-
ties?” Before considering this point let us examine why issuers ship temporarily to the advantage of both lender and borrower
might care. (tax arbitrage, dividend reinvestment plan arbitrage).
If securities were not issued, they could not be lent. Behind
this simple tautology lies an important point. When Initial Borrowing to cover short positions
Public Offerings are frequent and corporate merger and acqui-
sition activity is high, the securities lending business benefits. (a) Settlement coverage
In the early 2000s, the fall in the level of such activity Historically, settlement coverage has played a significant part
depressed the demand to borrow securities leading to: in the development of the securities lending market. Going
A depressed equity securities lending market meaning: back a decade or so, most securities lending businesses were
- Fewer trading opportunities located in the back offices of their organisations and were not
- Less demand properly recognised as businesses in their own right.
- Fewer ”specials” Particularly for less liquid securities – such as corporate bonds
Issuer concern about the role of securities lending, such as and equities with a limit free float – settlement coverage
Whether it is linked in any way to the decline in the value of a remains a large part of the demand to borrow.
company’s shares? The ability to borrow to avoid settlement failure is vital to
Whether securities lending should be discouraged? ensure efficient settlement and has encouraged many securi-
ties depositories into the automated lending business. This
How many times does an issuer discussing a specific corporate means that they remunerate customers for making their securi-
event stop to consider the impact that the issuance of a con- ties available to be lent by the depository automatically in order
vertible bond, or the adoption of a dividend reinvestment plan to avert any settlement failures.
might have upon lending of their shares.
There is a significant amount of information available on the (b) Naked shorting
long side of the market and correspondingly little on the short Naked shorting can be defined as borrowing securities in order
side. Securities lending activity is not synonymous with short to sell them in the expectation that they can be bought back at
selling. But it is often, although not always, used to finance a lower price in order to return them to the lender. Naked
short sales (see below) and might be a reasonable and practi- shorting is a directional strategy, speculating that prices will
cal proxy for the scale of short selling activity in the absence of fall, rather than a part of a wider trading strategy, usually
full short sale disclosure. It is therefore natural that issuers involving a corresponding long position in a related security.

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Securities Lending GUIDE

Naked shorting is a high risk strategy. Although some funds their historical trading range.
specialise in taking short positions in the shares of companies The strategy entails buying the apparently undervalued secu-
they judge to be overvalued, the number of funds relying on rity while selling the apparently overvalued security short, bor-
naked shorting is relatively small and probably declining. rowing the latter security to cover the short position.
Focusing on securities in the same sector or industry should
(c) Market making normally reduce the risks in this strategy.
Market makers play a central role in the provision of two-way
price liquidity in many securities markets around the world. (iii) Index arbitrage
They need to be able to borrow securities in order to settle buy In this context, arbitrage refers to the simultaneous purchase
and sale of the same commodity or stock in two different mar-
kets in order to profit from price discrepancies between the
Stock index arbitrage involves markets.
buying or selling a basket of In the stock market, an arbitrage opportunity arises when the
same security trades at different prices in different markets. In
stocks and, conversely, selling or such a situation, investors buy the security in one market at a
buying futures when mispricing lower price and sell it in another for more, capitalising on the
difference. However, such an opportunity vanishes quickly as
appears to be taking place investors rush in to take advantage of the price difference.
The same principle can be applied to index futures. Being a
orders from customers and to make tight, two-way prices. derivative product, index futures derive their value from the
The ability to make markets in illiquid small capitalisation securities that constitute the index. At the same time, the value
securities is sometimes hampered by a lack of access to bor- of index futures is linked to the stock index value through the
rowing, and some of the specialists in these less liquid securi- opportunity cost of funds (borrowing/lending cost) required to
ties have put in place special arrangements to enable them to play the market.
gain access to securities. These include guaranteed exclusive Stock index arbitrage involves buying or selling a basket of
bids with securities lenders. stocks and, conversely, selling or buying futures when mispric-
The character of borrowing is typically short term for an ing appears to be taking place.
unknown period of time. The need to know that a loan is avail-
able tends to mean that the level of communication between (2) Financing
market makers and the securities lending business has to be As broker dealers build derivative prime brokerage and cus-
highly automated. A market maker that goes short and then tomer margin business, they hold an increasing inventory of
finds that there is no loan available would have to buy that securities that requires financing.
security back to flatten its book. This type of activity is high volume and takes place between
two counterparts that have the following coincidence of wants:
(d) Arbitrage trading - One has cash that they would like to invest on a secured basis
Securities are often borrowed to cover a short position in one and pick up yield.
security that has been taken to hedge a long position in anoth- - The other has inventory that needs to be financed.
er as part of an “arbitrage” strategy. Some of the more com- - In the case of bonds, the typical financing transaction is a
mon arbitrage transactions that involve securities lending are repo or buy/sell back. But for equities, securities lending and
described below. equity, repo transactions are used.
- Tri Party agents are often involved in this type of financing
(i) Convertible bond arbitrage transaction as they can reduce operational costs for the cash
Convertible bond arbitrage involves buying a convertible bond lender and they have the settlement capabilities the cash bor-
and simultaneously selling the underlying equity short and bor- rower needs to substitute securities collateral as their inventory
rowing the shares to cover the short position. Leverage can be changes.
deployed to increase the return in this type of transaction.
Prime brokers are particularly keen on hedge funds that engage (3) Temporary transfers of ownership
in convertible bond arbitrage as they offer scope for several rev- (a) Tax arbitrage
enue sources: Tax driven trading is an example of securities lending as a
- Securities lending revenues means of exchange.
- Provision of leverage Markets that have historically provided the largest opportuni-
- Execution of the convertible bond ties for tax arbitrage include those with significant tax credits
- Execution of the equity that are not available to all investors – examples include Italy,
Germany and France.
(ii) Pairs trading or relative value “arbitrage” The different tax positions of investors around the world have
This in an investment strategy that seeks to identify two com- opened up opportunities for borrowers to use securities lend-
panies with similar characteristics whose equity securities are ing transactions, in effect, to exchange assets temporarily for
currently trading at a price relationship that is out of line with the mutual benefit of purchaser, borrower and lender. The

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lender’s reward comes in one of two ways: either a higher fee tions in 2002 and is backed by a consortium of financial insti-
for lending if they require a lower manufactured dividend, or a tutions. EquiLend’s stated objective is to: “Provide the securi-
higher manufactured dividend than the post-tax dividend they ties lending industry with the technology to streamline and
would normally receive (quoted as an “all-in rate”). automate transactions between borrowing and lending institu-
For example, an offshore lender that would normally receive tions and … introduce a set of common protocols. EquiLend
75% of a German dividend and incur 25% withholding tax (with will connect borrowers and lenders through a common, stan-
no possibility to reclaim) could lend the security to a borrower dards-based global equity lending platform enabling them to
that, in turn, could sell it to a German investor who was able to transact with increased efficiency and speed, and reduced cost
obtain a tax credit rather than incur withholding tax. If the off- and risk.” EquiLend is not alone in this market; for example,
shore lender claimed the 95% of the dividend that it would oth- SecFinex offers similar services in Europe.
erwise have received, it would be making a significant pick-up
(20% of the dividend yield), whilst the borrower might make a Connfirmations
spread of between 95% and whatever the German investor was Written or electronic confirmations are issued,
bidding. The terms of these trades vary widely and rates are whenever possible, on the day of the trade so that any queries
calculated accordingly. by the other party can be raised as quickly as possible.
Material changes during the life of the transaction are agreed
(b) Dividend reinvestment plan arbitrage between the parties as they occur and may also be
Many issuers of securities create an arbitrage opportunity
when they offer shareholders the choice of taking a dividend or Traditionally securities loans
reinvesting in additional securities at a discounted level.
Income or index tracking funds that cannot deviate from have been negotiated between
recognised securities weightings may have to choose to take counterparts on the phone, and
the cash option and forgo the opportunity to take the discount-
ed reinvestment opportunity. followed up with written or
One way that they can share in the potential profitability of electronic confirmations
this opportunity is to lend securities to borrowers that then
take the following action: confirmed if either party wishes it. Examples of material
- Borrow as many guaranteed cash shares as possible, as changes are collateral adjustments or collateral substitutions.
cheaply as possible. The parties agree who will take responsibility for issuing loan
- Tender the borrowed securities to receive the new dis- confirmations.
counted share. Confirmations would normally include the following
- Sell the new shares to realise the “profit” between the dis- information:
counted share price and the market price. - Contract and settlement dates.
- Return the shares and manufacture the cash dividend to - Details of loaned securities.
the lender. - Identities of lender and borrower (+ any underlying principal)
- Acceptable collateral and margin percentages.
Market mechanics - Term and rates.
This section outlines the detailed processes in the life of a - Bank and settlement account details of the lender and
securities loan including: borrower.

Loan negotiation Term of loan, and selling securities while on loan


Traditionally securities loans have been negotiated between Loans may either be for a specified term or open. Open loans
counterparts (whose credit departments have approved one are trades with no fixed maturity date. It is more usual for secu-
another) on the phone, and followed up with written or elec- rities loans to be open or “at call”, especially for equities,
tronic confirmations. Normally the borrower initiates the call to because lenders typically wish to preserve the flexibility for fund
the lender with a borrowing requirement. However, pro-active managers to be able to sell at any time. Lenders are able to sell
lenders may also offer out in-demand securities to their securities despite their being on open loan because they can
approved counterparts. This would happen particularly where usually be recalled from the borrower within the settlement
one borrower returns a security and the lender is still lending it period of the market concerned. Nevertheless open loans can
to others in the market, they will contact them to see if they remain on loan for a long period.
wish to borrow additional securities.
Today, there is an increasing amount of bilateral and multilat- Term trades – fixed or indicative?
eral automated lending whereby securities are broadcast as The general description “term trade” is used to describe differ-
available at particular rates by email or other electronic means. ing arrangements in the securities lending market. The parties
Where lending terms are agreeable, automatic matching can have to agree whether the term of a loan is “fixed” for a defi-
take place. nite period or whether the duration is merely “indicative” and
An example of an electronic platform for negotiating equity therefore the securities are callable. If fixed, the lender is not
securities loan transactions is EquiLend, which began opera- obliged to accept the earlier return of the securities; nor does

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the borrower need to return the securities early if the lender separately, possibly in a different payment or settlement system
requests it. Accordingly, securities subject to a fixed loan and maybe a different country and time zone. For example, UK
should not be sold while on loan. equities might be lent against collateral provided in a European
Where the term discussed is intended to be “indicative”, it International Central Securities Depository or US dollar cash
usually means that the borrower has a long term need for the collateral paid in New York. This can give rise to what is known
securities but the lender is unable to fix for term and retains in the market as “daylight exposure”, a period during which the
the right to recall the securities if necessary. loan is not covered as the lent securities have been delivered
but the collateral securities have not yet been received. To
Putting securities “on hold” (also known as “icing”) avoid this exposure some lenders insist on pre-collateralisa-
Putting securities “on hold” (referred to in the market as tion, so transferring the exposure to the borrower.
“icing” securities) is the practice whereby the lender will The CREST system for settling UK and Irish securities is an
reserve securities at the request of a borrower on the borrow- exception to the normal practice as collateral is available within
er’s expected need to borrow those securities at a future date. the system. This enables loans to be settled against cash intra-
This occurs where the borrower must be sure that the securi- day and for the cash to be exchanged, if desired, at the end of
ties will be available before committing to a trade that will the settlement day for a package of DBV securities overnight.
require them. The process can be reversed and repeated the next day.
While some details can be agreed between the parties, it is CREST settlement facility for stock lending
normal for any price quoted to be purely indicative, and for CREST also has specific settlement arrangements for stock
securities to be held to the following business day. The borrow- loans, requiring the independent input of instructions by both
er can “roll over” the arrangement (continue to ice the securi- parties, who must complete a number of matching fields,
ties) by contacting the holder before 9am, otherwise it termi- including the amount and currency of any cash collateral,
nates. together with the percentage value of applicable loan margin.
Key aspects of icing are that the lender does not receive a fee Loans may be effected against sterling, euro or dollar consider-
for reserving the securities and they are generally open to chal- ation or made free-of-payment.
lenge by another borrower making a firm bid. In this case the Immediately after the settlement of the loan, CREST auto-
first borrower would have 30 minutes to decide whether to take matically creates a pre-matched stock loan return transaction
the securities at that time or to release them. with an intended settlement date of the next business day. The
return is prevented from settling until the borrower intervenes
to raise the settlement priority of the transaction. The stock
Settlement will normally be lender may freeze the transaction in order to prevent the stock
through the lender’s custodian from returning.
bank and this is likely to apply Termination of the loan
irrespective of whether the Open loans may be terminated by the borrower returning secu-
rities or by the lender recalling them. The borrower will normal-
lender is conducting the opera- ly return borrowed securities when it has filled its short posi-
tion or delegating to an agent tion. A borrower will sometimes refinance its loan positions by
borrowing more cheaply elsewhere and returning securities to
the original lender. The borrower may, however, give the origi-
“Pay-to-hold” arrangements nal lender the opportunity to reduce the rate being charged on
A variation of icing is “pay-to-hold” where the lender does the loan before borrowing elsewhere.
receive a fee for putting the securities on hold. As such, they
constitute a contractual agreement and are not open to chal- Redelivery, failed trades and legal remedies
lenge by other borrowers. When deciding which markets and what size to lend in, securi-
ties lenders will consider how certain they can be of having
How are loans settled? their securities returned in a timely manner when called, and
Securities lenders need to settle transactions on a shorter time- what remedies are available under the legal agreement (see
frame than the customary settlement period for that market. below) in the event of a failed return.
Settlement will normally be through the lender’s custodian Procedures to be followed in the event of a failed redelivery
bank and this is likely to apply irrespective of whether the are usually covered in legal agreements or otherwise agreed
lender is conducting the operation or delegating to an agent. between the parties at the outset of the relationship. Financial
The lender will usually have agreed a schedule of guaranteed redress may be available to the lender if the borrower fails to
settlement times for its securities lending activity with its cus- redeliver loaned securities or collateral on the intended settle-
todians. Prompt settlement information is crucial to the effi- ment date. Costs that would typically be covered include:
cient monitoring and control of a lending programme, with
reports needed for both loans and collateral. Direct interest and/or overdraft incurred
In most settlement systems securities loans are settled as Costs reasonably and properly incurred as a result of the bor-
“free-of-payment” deliveries and the collateral is taken quite rower’s failure to meet its sale or delivery obligations

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COMPONENTS OF RETURN ties borrowing.


Total A number of market bodies, in the United Kingdom and
Return internationally, have been addressing the relationship between
Short securities lending and voting. For example, a recent report by
Interest Paul Myners to the UK Shareholder Voting Working Group3
Rate Leverage made the following recommendation:
Related Stocklending is important in maintaining market liquidity but
Current borrowing of shares for the purpose of voting is not appropri-
+ Returns =
+ Yield ate… it is important that beneficial owners are fully aware of
0 the implications for voting if they agree to their shares being
Dividend Interest lent. In particular, when a resolution is contentious I start from
-
Exposure Exposure the position that the lender should automatically recall the
related stock, unless there are good economic reasons for not
Total costs and expenses reasonably incurred by the lender as a doing so.’
result of a “buy-in” (i.e. where the lender is forced to? purchase Internationally, a working group of the International
securities in the open market following the borrower’s failure Corporate Governance Network is currently examining best
to return them) practices for long-term investors in relation to securities lend-
Costs that would usually be excluded are those arising from ing and voting. The SLRC is also considering additions to its
the transferee’s negligence or wilful default and any indirect or code in this area.
consequential losses. An example of that would be when the
non-return of loaned securities causes an onward trade for a UK tax arrangements and London Stock Exchange reportingg by
larger amount to fail. The norm is for only that proportion of member firms
the total costs which relates to the unreturned securities or col- London Stock Exchange rules require lending arrangements in
lateral to be claimed. It is good practice, where possible, to securities on which UK Stamp Duty/Stamp Duty Reserve Tax
consider “shaping” or “partialling” larger transactions (break- (SDRT)4 is chargeable to be reported to the Exchange.
ing them down into a number of smaller amounts for settle- This enables firms to bring their borrowing and lending activ-
ment purposes) so as to avoid the possibility of the whole ity ‘on Exchange’ and to allow them to be exempt from Stamp
transaction failing if the transferor cannot redeliver the loaned
securities or collateral on the intended settlement date.
When securities are lent, legal
Corporate actions and votes
The basic premise underlying securities lending is to make the
ownership and the right to vote
lender “whole” for any corporate action event – such as a divi- in shareholder meetings passes
dend, rights or bonus issue – by putting the borrower under a to the borrower, who will often
contractual obligation to make equivalent payments to the
lender, for instance by “manufacturing” dividends. However a sell the securities on. Where
shareholder’s right to vote as part owner of a company cannot lenders have the right to recall
be manufactured. When securities are lent, legal ownership
and the right to vote in shareholder meetings passes to the securities, they can use this
borrower, who will often sell the securities on. Where lenders
have the right to recall securities, they can use this option to
option to restore their holdings
restore their holdings and voting rights. The onus is on the and voting rights
borrower to find the securities, by borrowing or purchasing
them in the market if necessary. This can damage market liq- Duty/SDRT.
uidity, which is a risk that intermediaries manage. Firms which are not members of the Exchange but which
It is important that beneficial owners are aware that when conduct borrowing and lending through a member firm are
shares are lent the right to vote is also transferred. The SLRC’s also eligible for relief from stock lending Stamp Duty/SDRT.
code of guidance states in section 2.5.4 that lenders should On Exchange lending arrangements are evidenced by regula-
make it clear to clients that voting rights are transferred. A bal- tory reports that are transmitted to the Exchange by close of
ance needs to be struck between the importance of voting and business on the day the lending arrangement is agreed.
the benefits derived from lending the securities. Beneficial Prior to entering into a lending arrangement, member
owners need to ensure that any agents they have made respon- firms are required to sign a written agreement with the other
sible for their voting and stock lending act in a co-ordinated party.
way. The Exchange has authorised the following agreements:
Borrowing securities in order to build up a holding in a com- - Global Master Securities Lending Agreement
pany with the deliberate purpose of influencing a shareholder - Master Equity & Fixed Interest Stock Lending Agreement
vote is not necessarily illegal in the United Kingdom. However, (1996)
institutional lenders have recently become more aware of the - PSA/ISMA Global Master Repurchase Agreement as
possibility, and tend not to see it as a legitimate use of securi-
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Securities Lending GUIDE

extended by supplemental terms and conditions for equity borrower’s liquidator along with other creditors.
repo forming Part 2 of Annex 1 of the agreement
Risks and risk management
Where an authorised agreement does not cover the circum- When taking cash as collateral
stances in which a member firm wishes to enter into a lend- Because of its wide acceptability and ease of management,
ing arrangement, the firm must ensure that the agreement cash can be highly appropriate collateral. However, the
includes provisions equivalent to those contained within the lender needs to decide how best to utilise this form of collat-
Exchange’s rules on lending arrangements in relation to eral. As described in Chapter 1, a lender taking cash as col-
member firm default. lateral pays rebate interest to the securities borrower, so the
cash must be reinvested at a higher rate to make any net
Transparency in the UK market return on the collateral. This means the lender needs to
decide on an appropriate risk-return trade-off. In simple
Today, there is an increasing terms, reinvesting in assets that carry one of the following
risks can increase expected returns:
amount of bilateral and a higher credit risk: a risk of loss in the event of defaults or a
multilateral automated lending longer maturity in relation to the likely term of the loan
Many of the large securities lending losses over the years
CREST provides time-delayed information on the value of have been associated with reinvestment of cash collateral.
securities financing transactions in the top 350 UK equities. Typically, lenders delegate reinvestment to their agents,
This is a subscription service begun in September 2003 (for example, custodian banks). They specify reinvestment
following extensive discussion with market participants and guidelines, such as those set out in Chapter 1. There is a
the Financial Services Authority. move towards more quantitative, risk-based approaches;
The information it provides pertains to total Stamp Duty often specifying the ”value-at-risk” in relation to the different
Reserve Tax-exempt transactions taking place in each securi- expected returns earned from alternative reinvestment pro-
ty on a given day and excludes intermediary activity where files. Agents do not usually offer an indemnity against loss-
possible. CREST has provided answers to many frequently es on reinvestment activity so that the lender retains all of
asked questions on its website, www.crest.co.uk. the risk while their agent is paid part of the return.
The launch of its securities financing data service coincid-
ed with its publication of settlement failure statistics The When taking other securities ass collateral
London Stock Exchange monitors both and makes public Compared with cash collateral, taking other securities as col-
announcements on stock lending activity when it feels it is lateral is a way of avoiding reinvestment risk. In addition to
appropriate. the risks of error, systems failure and fraud always present in
any market, problems then arise on the default of a borrow-
UK Takeover Panel er. In such cases the lender will seek to sell the collateral
If it is proposed that any securities lending should take securities in order to raise the funds to replace the lent secu-
place during an offer period for a UK company, the Takeover rities. Transactions collateralised with securities are exposed
Panel should be consulted to establish whether any disclo- to a number of different risks:
sure is required and whether there are any other conse- Reaction and legal risk. If a lender experiences delays in
quences. either selling the collateral securities or repurchasing the
lent securities, it runs a greater risk that the value of the col-
Risks, regulation and market oversighht lateral will fall below that of the loan in the interim.
This chapter describes the main financial risks in securities Typically, the longer the delay, the larger the risk.
lending, and how lenders usually manage them. It is not a Mispricing risk. The lender will be exposed if either collateral
comprehensive description of the various operational, legal, securities have been over-valued or lent securities under-val-
market and credit risks to which market participants can be ued because the prices used to mark-to-market differ from
exposed. The chapter then briefly summarises the UK regula- prices that can actually be traded in the secondary market.
tory framework for securities lending market participants and One example of mispricing is using mid rather than bid
the role of the UK Stock Lending and Repo Committee. prices for collateral. For illiquid securities, obtaining a reli-
Financial risks in securities lending are primarily managed able price source is particularly difficult because of the lack
through the use of collateral and netting. As described in of trading activity.
Chapter 1, collateral can be in the form of securities or cash. Liquidity risk. Illiquid securities are more likely to be
The market value of the collateral is typically greater than that realised at a lower price than the valuation used. Valuation
of the lent portfolio. This margin is intended to protect the “haircuts” are used to mitigate this risk (i.e. collateral is val-
lender from loss and reflect the practical costs of collateral ued at, for example, 98% or 95% of the current market
liquidation and repurchase of the lent portfolio in the event value). The haircuts might depend upon:
of default. Any profits made in the repurchase of the lent - The proportion of the total security issue held in the portfo-
portfolio are normally returned to the borrower’s liquidator. lio – the larger the position, the greater the haircut.
Losses incurred are borne by the lender with recourse to the - The average daily traded volume of the security: the lower

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the volume, the greater the haircut. expected losses increase.


- The volatility of the security; the higher the volatility, the
greater the haircut. Netting
Congruency of collateral and lent portfolios (mismatch Netting is an important element of risk management given
risk). If the lent and collateral portfolios were identical then that market participants will often have many outstanding
there would be no market risk. In practice, of course, the trades with a counterpart. If there is a default the various stan-
lent and collateral portfolios are often very different. The dard industry master agreements for securities lending should
lender’s risk is that the market value of the lent securities provide for the parties’ various obligations under different
increases but that of the collateral securities falls before securities lending transactions governed by a master agree-
rebalancing can be effected. Provided the counterpart has ment to be accelerated, payments become due at current mar-
not defaulted, the lender will be able to call for additional ket values. So instead of requiring the parties to deliver securi-
collateral on any adverse collateral/loan price movements. ties or collateral on each of their outstanding transactions
However, following default, it will be exposed until it has
been able sell the collateral and replace the lent securities.
The size of mismatch risk depends on the expected co- Many of the large securities
variance of the value of the collateral and lent securities. lending losses over the years
The risk will be greater if the value of the collateral is more
volatile, the value of the lent securities is more volatile, or if have been associated with
their values do not tend to move together, so that the reinvestment of cash collateral
expected correlation between changes in their value is low.
For example, in deciding whether to hold UK government
securities or UK equities to collateralise a loan of BP shares, gross, their respective obligations are valued (given a cash
a lender would have to judge whether the greater expected value) and the value of the obligations owed by one party are
correlation between the value of the UK equities and the BP set off against the value of the obligations owed by the other,
shares reduced mismatch risk by more than the lower and it is the net balance that is then due in cash.
expected volatility in the value of the government securities. This netting mechanism is a crucial part of the agreement.
Many agent intermediaries will offer beneficial owners pro- That is why there is so much legal focus on it: for example, par-
tection against these risks by agreeing to return (buy-in) lent ticipants need to obtain legal opinions about the effectiveness
securities immediately for their clients following a fail, tak- of netting provisions in jurisdictions of overseas counterparts,
ing on the risk that the value of the collateral on liquidation particularly in the event of a counterpart’s insolvency.
is lower. That is also why regulators of financial firms typically
expect legal opinions on the robustness of netting arrange-
Realistic valuations ments before they will recognise the value of collateral in
The first consideration is whether the valuation prices are reducing counterpart credit exposures for capital adequacy
fair. Assuming the portfolios have been conservatively valued at purposes. In the United Kingdom, SLRC has a netting sub-
bid and offer (not mid) prices, then the lender might require group, which, on behalf of subscribing banks, is monitoring
some adjustment (haircut) to reflect concentration and price an exercise to gather opinions on the legal bases for netting
volatility of the different assets. For example, in the case of the in different jurisdictions.
sterling cash collateral, the haircut might be negligible. But for
the Malaysian equity portfolio, a high adjustment might be UK regulation
sought on the assumption that it would probably cost more Any person who conducts stock borrowing or lending business
than GBP100 million to buy back this part of the lent portfolio. in the United Kingdom would generally be carrying on a regu-
Required haircuts might be based on the average daily liquidity lated activity under the terms of the Financial Services and
for the asset class, the price volatility of the asset class and the Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, and
residual risk on individual securities, taken from Table 2. would therefore have to be authorised and supervised under
Using the adjusted portfolios, the lender can then calculate that Act. The stock borrower or lender would, as an authorised
the risk of a collateral shortfall in the event of the borrower person, be subject to the provisions of the FSA Handbook,
defaulting. Broadly, this will need to assess the volatility of including the Inter-Professional chapter of the Market Conduct
each asset class, the correlation between them and the residual Sourcebook. They would also need to have regard to the mar-
risk of securities within them to derive a range of possible sce- ket abuse provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act
narios from which probabilities of loss and the most likely size 2000, and the related Code of Market Conduct issued by the
of losses on default can be estimated. Working on the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The Conduct of Business
assumption that the lender can realise its collateral and replace Sourcebook requires a beneficial owner’s consent to carry on
its lent securities in a reaction time of 20 days, Table 4 shows stock lending on its account. The FSA Handbook contains
the results for the portfolio, together with some sensitivity rules, guidance, and evidential provisions relevant to the con-
analysis in case market volatility and liquidity that has been sig- duct of the firm in relation to the FSA’s High Level Standards.
nificantly changed. By increasing the volatility assumption or
reducing the liquidity assumption, the probability and scale of Stock Borrowing and Lending Code

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Securities Lending GUIDE

In addition to the essentially prudential standards set by the of securities lenders and assisting in the orderly, efficient and
FSA, market participants have drawn up a code, the Stock competitive development of the securities lending market.
Borrowing and Lending Code. This is a code that UK-based ISLA has helped to produce standard market agreements,
participants in the stock borrowing and lending markets of including the Overseas Securities Lending Agreement (OSLA
both UK domestic and overseas securities observe as a matter 1995 version), the Master Equity and Fixed Interest Securities
Lending Agreement (MEFISLA 1999 version) and the Global
Master Securities Lending Agreement (GMSLA May 2000).
Corporate governance deals with
the rights and responsibilities of Securities Lending and Corporate governance
What is Corporate Governance?
a company’s management, its Corporate governance has increased in importance over
board, shareholders and various recent years. This high profile has been supported by investors,
their associations and increasingly by regulators. As the
stakeholders. How well compa- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
nies are run affects market confi- writes in response to the following frequently asked question
“What is corporate governance and why is it important?”
dence as well as company Corporate governance deals with the rights and responsibili-
performance ties of a company’s management, its board, shareholders and
various stakeholders. How well companies are run affects mar-
of good practice. The Code covers matters such as agents, bro- ket confidence as well as company performance. Good corpo-
kers, legal agreements, custody, margins, defaults and close- rate governance is therefore essential for companies that want
outs, and confirmations. It is based on the current working access to capital and for countries that want to stimulate pri-
practices of leading market practitioners and is kept under reg- vate sector investment. If companies are well run, they will
ular review. The Code does not in any way replace the FSA’s or prosper. This, in turn, will enable them to attract investors
other authorities’ regulatory requirements; nor is it intended to whose support can help to finance faster growth. Poor corpo-
override the internal rules of settlement systems on borrowing rate governance, on the other hand, weakens a company’s
or lending transactions. Work is currently in progress to pro- potential and, at worst, can pave the way for financial difficul-
duce a UK Annex to the Code that will consider specific aspects ties and even fraud.
of UK law and practices in the equity stock lending market. Exercising the right to vote is therefore an integral and
The Code is available on the Bank of England’s website at important aspect of good corporate governance for institution-
www.bankofengland.co.uk/markets/stockborrowing.pdf. al investors. To be more precise the exercising of a right to vote
against management is the ultimate sanction that a sharehold-
Securities Lending and Repo Committee er has and can be seen as a major step in meaningful engage-
The Stock Borrowing and Lending Code was produced by the ment with the company.
Securities Lending and Repo Committee (SLRC), that is a UK-
based committee consisting of market practitioners, members Avoiding Conflict
of bodies such as CREST, the United Kingdom Debt There has been widespread discussion regarding the possible
Management Office, the Inland Revenue, the London Clearing conflict between the exercising of good corporate governance
House, the London Stock Exchange and the FSA. It provides a on behalf of investors and the lending of securities. This dis-
forum in which structural (including legal, regulatory, trading, cussion focuses upon the ability of investors, either directly or
clearing and settlement infrastructure, tax, market practice and by instructing their agents, to vote when they have securities
disclosure) developments in the stock lending and repo mar- on loan.
kets can be discussed, and recommendations made. It also co- We will draw upon specific examples, where appropriate, and
ordinates the development of gilt repo and equity repo codes; highlight best practice.
produces and updates the Gilts Annex to the ISMA/TBMA
Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA); keeps under The Legal Position
review the other legal agreements used in the stock lending There are differing views in the market place as to the exact
and repo markets; and maintains a sub-group on legal netting. meaning of the term Securities Lending. “The word ‘lending’ is
It liaises with similar market bodies and trade organisations in some ways misleading. In law the transaction is, in fact, an
covering the repo, securities and other financial markets, both absolute transfer of title against an undertaking to return
in London and internationally. Minutes of SLRC meetings are equivalent securities.”
available on the Bank of England’s website, at www.bankofeng- This results in some important consequences arising from
land.co.uk/markets/slrc/htm. The SLRC’s terms of reference the nature of securities lending transactions:
are shown in Appendix 2. - Absolute title over both lent and collateral securities passes
The work of the SLRC complements the work of the various between parties, meaning that these securities can be sold out-
market associations, including, in the securities lending field, right or “on lent”.
the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA). The - Once securities have been passed, the new owner of them
objectives of ISLA include representing the common interests has certain rights. For example they have the right to sell or

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lend them to another buyer and vote in the AGMs/EGMs if books because shares held as collateral or in trading books are
they are the holder at the record date. not normally voted.
- The lender of equities no longer owns them and has no enti- The right to recall any security on loan is enshrined in the
tlement to vote. But they are still exposed to price movements legal agreement underpinning this activity and typically the
on them since the economic exposure to owning those securi- lender recalling securities must provide their agent or borrower
ties is not passed. Typically lenders reserve the right to recall with “standard settlement period notice.” Recalls are part and
equivalent securities from the borrower and must exercise this parcel of the securities lending business.
option if they wish to vote. However, borrowers seek to avoid recalls wherever possible
and frequent recalls may discourage borrowers from accessing
Shares should not be borrowed for the purpose of voting portfolios.
As Paul Myners writes in the March 2005 Report to the In practice the lenders, or their agent, communicate the
Shareholder Voting Working Group, ‘Review of the lender’s position with regards to voting to the borrowers so as
Impediments to voting UK shares’: “Borrowing shares for the to avoid any surprises.
purpose of acquiring the vote is inappropriate, as it gives a pro- It is important for all parties that they understand the impor-
portion of the vote to the borrower which has no relation to tance of this communication and the rights of the underlying
their economic stake in the company. This is particularly the client to recall their securities to vote.
case in takeover situations or where there are shareholder reso- There are several positions that can be taken and these are
lutions involving acquisitions or disposals. The potential to vote driven by the owners of the assets made available for loan.
borrowed shares means that there is a risk that decisions could At all times it is the owner who determines what can and can-
be influenced by those that do not have an economic interest in not be done with their securities.
the business. I believe that this merits the attention of lenders,
fund managers and the ultimate beneficial owners, and their The beneficial owners of these assets include the following
respective trade associations. They should visit existing prac- types of organisations:
tices to see whether practical procedures could be put in place - Pension Funds
to prohibiting the borrowing of stock for the purposes of voting. - Mutual Funds
In this respect, the Securities Borrowing and Lending Code of - Insurance Companies
Guidance states: “there is consensus in the market that securi- - Unit Trusts
ties should not be borrowed solely for the purposes of exercis- - Charities and Religious Institutions
ing the voting rights at, for example, an AGM or EGM. Lenders
should also consider their corporate governance responsibilities The Lenders’ Choices
before lending stock over a period in which an AGM or EGM is The following positions are possible and there are securities
lending programmes constructed to cater for each of them:
Open loans may be terminated Voting (and therefore recalling) securities at every opportuni-
by the borrower returning ty, for example when the owner has a strong culture of voting
and does not wish to miss an opportunity to demonstrate its
securities or by the lender position to the company.
recalling them This is quite a rare position to take and is often only made in
a subset of markets that are very important to the owner e.g. A
expected to be held” . UK pension fund might wish to recall all UK securities to vote.
Similarly collateral held, which can be of equal or greater In his report, Paul Myners accepted that investors might
value than the shares lent, should not be voted. This is a clear have legitimate economic reasons for not recalling all securi-
position and one of which practitioners actively engaged in the ties to vote.
business of securities lending are acutely aware. Voting (and therefore recalling) securities only when the
vote is deemed important enough, for example when a
The Right to Recall takeover is being considered.
It is the case that securities on loan cannot be voted by the This is a more commonplace position and enables the
lender. Should they wish to exercise their right to vote, they owners to enjoy higher securities lending revenues whilst
need to recall these securities by the pre-determined time i.e. voting when they feel it is warranted. It is important to note
record date. that the beneficial owner determines when it is important to
Notwithstanding the above, it is not the case that, in aggre- vote, not their agents or borrowers. Here again the owners
gate, all votes on lent shares are lost. might focus upon their local market where their corporate
Some shares that have been borrowed will be delivered into governance aspirations are understandably higher than they
the market to settle sales and end up with buyers. These buyers might be overseas.
will be oblivious to the fact that these shares have been bor-
rowed and will view them as their property and choose to vote Not voting securities at all
as they see fit. There are still organisations that choose, for their own rea-
It is the case that there may be some loss of votes associated sons, not to vote. This is their decision although increasing
with collateral positions or positions sitting long in trading pressure in the UK from the government and others with

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Securities Lending GUIDE

regulatory responsibility may well encourage greater voting Here are some suggestions that are currently being consid-
over time. However, should they change their mind and ered and that will make a difference if implemented:
make an exception, they would have the capability to notify
their agent or borrower and recall the securities in the nor- - Transparency
mal way. All stakeholders, not just securities lending professionals,
for example fund managers and corporate governance pro-
Maintaining a buffer of at least one share in all holdings fessionals, should understand the following:
To ensure that the beneficial owner or asset manager - The established legal framework underpinning the
receives direct advice regarding voting (and all other corpo- lending arrangement.
rate actions) the retention of at least one share in their - Securities must be recalled to vote.
account is advisable. This has the advantage of ensuring the - The exact notice required to recall the shares to
efficient and direct flow of information whilst retaining opti- vote - this may be different to normal market settlement
mal lending returns. It is typical for there to be some reten- periods depending on the lending agent being used.
tion or “buffer” of securities to be made in a lending pro- - Which securities are on loan.
gramme and this level could be as low as one share or could - How to access loan and/or governance information.
be expressed as a percentage of the value of the holding. - The potential effect of dividend record dates.

Market Practice Some beneficial owners are already in receipt of detailed


Currently the majority of lenders of securities do not recall reporting from their lending agents, although it is fair to say
securities for voting except for the more contentious votes. that the frequency and distribution of this information
This choice is theirs to make and should they wish to alter varies. Best practice is to provide daily reports securely on
this position they are free to do so. the internet. This enables permissioned users throughout
Typically a lender of securities would let their counterparts the beneficial owners organisation to understand which
know their position regarding corporate governance and securities are on loan.
propensity to vote before joining a lending programme.
Lending agents have strong operational procedures in - Consistency
A clear policy is required so that the inherent conflict
between the securities lending income forgone and the
Currently the majority of lenders “value” of recalling to vote is addressed explicitly. This policy
should be carefully drafted and agreed by stakeholders. In
of securities do not recall practice, accurately assessing the economic trade off is chal-
securities for voting except for lenging – the opportunity cost of making a recall may be
known and is easier to assess than the benefit of making a
the more contentious votes. vote. Any policy should be flexible enough to take into
This choice is theirs to make and account a wide variety of security specific situations.
should they wish to alter this - Communication
position they are free to do so It is imperative that all stakeholders have access to all nec-
essary information in time to make informed decisions. This
place to ensure recalls are made where appropriate. requires accurate communication of data throughout the
chain of organisations that are involved in lending, including
Putting Disenfrranchisement in Context the stakeholders at the beneficial owners, all teams at their
So there is a material amount of borrowing in this blue chip providers and also the issuer. The efficient communication
index that peaks over dividend dates. What impact does this of any recalls is a vital part of the process that is normally
pattern have upon voting turnout and thereby upon corpo- well documented in the securities lending agreement.
rate governance? Beneficial Owners should typically expect that securities on
It is difficult to say in specific terms without going into loan will be returned upon the provision of standard settle-
detailed examples and space prohibits us from doing so ment period notice.
here.
However, the following conclusions easily emerge from the - Timing
research. Given the scale of lending activity around the dividend
The scale of securities lending does not typically exceed the record date it is constructive to maintain the separation of
voluntary disenfranchisement one sees at typical AGMs. the record date from the AGM.
In other words more investors choose not to vote (for However, the issuers should ensure that the necessary
whatever reason) than choose to lend (and not recall). documentation regarding the shareholders meeting are dis-
tributed prior to the record date so that the owners can
Suggestions decide whether they would prefer to vote or make the securi-
So what should be done to alleviate the perceived problem? ties available for loan.

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Furthermore, bringing the payment date closer to the AGM Beneficial owners need to ensure that any agents they
would ensure that the dividend timetable is not unduly have made responsible for their voting and stock lending
lengthened. This would enable lenders that wish to act in a co-ordinated way. This may mean that portfolio
participate in profitable dividend related lending activity to managers need to receive reports regarding securities on
do so with less voting conflict. loan so as to avoid any situation whereby votes that they
It will also ensure that lenders are fully informed and can intend to make are not possible.
vote when it matters to them. This change does not require This should be straightforward as notification of a vote
changes in company law and could be affected by the issuing taking place is given well in advance and securities can
companies. easily be recalled if necessary.

- Guidance
It is clear from the SLRC Code of Guidance and the Myners Conclusion
reports on the subject of securities lending and voting that Securities lending and the pursuit of good corporate gov-
the practice of borrowing shares specifically to vote is unac- ernance are not necessarily in conflict. Both activities can
ceptable. and do co-exist happily within the investment manage-
Many active participants in the securities lending business ment mainstream.
already have the suggested measures outlined above in
place. That should be a source of comfort to those con-
cerned about the activity. Since the demise of the
borrowing purpose test, it is
Lending is only part of the picture
The evidence suggests that lending is not one of the pri- technically possible for someone
mary reasons why voting turnout is low. to borrow securities to vote
The value of a vote is determined by the owner of that
vote – if they do not value it they may choose not to exer-
cise their right, irrespective of their willingness to lend. Today, many of the foremost proponents of good corpo-
As the law currently stands in the UK, borrowing securi- rate governance successfully combine an active voting
ties in order to build up a holding in a company with the role with a successful securities lending role.
deliberate purpose of influencing a shareholder vote is not The information flow and communication necessary to
illegal. However, based on recent headlines and the work ensure that conflict is avoided is already in place but
done by the International Corporate Governance Network, could be developed further. Those that are concerned
institutional lenders have recently become more aware of about possible conflict need to openly discuss the issue
this possibility, and tend not to see it as a legitimate use of with their securities lending counterparts and corporate
securities borrowing. governance colleagues.
Since the demise of the borrowing purpose test, it is There is no need for anyone to feel that securities lend-
technically possible for someone to borrow securities to ing will disenfranchise them. At all times it should be
vote. remembered that the owner of the securities determines
However, it has been made very clear that this is not whether securities are either lent or voted. SLMG
acceptable practice as the UK Annex to the Stock
Borrowing and Lending Code, SLRC, 11 May 2004 makes
clear. Mark Faulkner, Spitalfields Advisors
Should this activity become an issue of concern in the The previous section is an edited extract from 'An
future, it would draw regulatory attention very quickly, with Introduction to Securities Lending' and 'Securities Lending &
the widespread support of the securities lending industry. Corporate Governance' by Mark Faulkner, Spitalfields Advisors.
It is vital that beneficial owners are aware that when It has been prepared with Faulkner's permission. The original
shares are lent the right to vote is also transferred. The publication of 'An Introduction to Securities Lending' was com-
SLRC Code of Guidance states that “agents should make it missioned by the International Securities Lending Association,
clear to clients that voting rights are transferred.” the Association of Corporate Treasurers, the British Bankers
Going forward, a balance needs to be struck between vot- Association, the London Investment Banking Association, the
ing securities and the benefits derived from lending securi- London Stock Exchange and the Securities Lending and Repo
ties. Quantifying these competing benefits is challenging. Committeee. It was welcomed by the National Association of
The income derived from securities lending can be Pension Funds and the Association of British Insurers. The
explicitly measured but the value of a vote is perhaps less original publication of 'Securities Lending & Corporate
tangible - particularly now that most securities carry a vote Governance' was commissioned by the International Securities
and the majority of equity securities in publicly quoted Lending Association and endorsed by the Association of
companies rank pari passu (i.e. there are fewer companies Corporate Treasurers, the British Bankers Association, the
that issue both voting and non voting shares that can be London Stock Exchange, the National Association of Pension
compared with one another). Funds and the Securities Lending and Repo Committeee.

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 65


SLMG 2007 pp50-69 10/9/07 5:07 pm Page 66

Guide - FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions


Your securities lending queries answered

What do people mean when they talk about transfer of title? Voting rights are transferred and the lender must recall equiv-
Contracts provide for ownership of lent securities to pass from alent securities from the borrower in order to vote.
the lender to the borrower.
A moment's thought about one of the principal motivations Why is it called securities “lending” when there is
for borrowing and lending securities will make the necessity for transfer of title?
this clear. Because commercially and economically people think of it as
Say the borrower needs to borrow securities to cover a short lending. Reflecting this, for accounting and capital require-
position, i.e. to fulfil a contract it has entered into to sell on the ments it is usually treated as a loan.
securities. The buyer is expecting the borrower to pass it own-
ership on settlement of that sale, as is normal in a sale. If the Does it meean that the lender gets exactly the same
borrower cannot do that, the borrower will not be able to fulfil securities back?
its contract with that purchaser. In order to enable it to fulfil its No. The borrower’s obligation is to return “equivalent securi-
contract, the borrower obtains title from the lender and then ties” i.e. from the same securities issue with the same
passes it on to the purchaser, hence “transfer of title”. International Securities Identification Number (ISIN).
Often it will have sold the original lent securities and has to
What does this mean for the lenderr? borrow or purchase securities in the market to fulfil its obliga-
The lender needs to be aware that it will be transferring owner- tion to the lender.
ship of the securities and of the various consequences that
flow from this. Does the lender have a pledge over the collateral?
First, any transfer taxes applicable to a purchase of No. Under standard market agreements and English law, there
securities will be due unless an exemption applies. This will is usually a transfer of title to the collateral. If the collateral is
typically be an issue for the borrower on the initial leg of the cash, all that means is that there is a cash payment by the bor-
transaction. But the lender should recognise that the return rower into the lender’s bank account. If the collateral is securi-
leg of the transaction (when the borrower transfers securities ties, there is a transfer of title of those securities to the lender.
back to the lender) may also attract transfer taxes where they Many of questions that arise for borrowers in relation to
are applicable. collateral securities also arise for lenders in relation to lent
Second, the transfer of the lent securities is in legal terms a securities.
disposal of them, and the lender needs to establish whether
such a disposal will have any consequences. Again this is usu- Why are there so many different agreements?
ally a tax question e.g. are there tax consequences for the Historically the different tax treatment of securities lending in
lender in disposing of the lent securities? different jurisdictions has driven the need for different agree-
Third, and very importantly, the obligation of the borrower on ments (such as OSLA – the Overseas Securities Lenders'
the return leg of the transaction is to transfer equivalent s Agreement, MEFISLA – the Master Equity and Fixed Income
ecurities back to the lender, not the original securities. In a Stock Lending Agreement, and so on). Following tax changes it
securities lending transaction, the borrower is not “holding” has generally become possible to use a single document and
the securities in trust or in custody on behalf of the lender. The the GMSLA – the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement,
borrower actually owns them, which is to say that the lender consolidates the various historical documents.
has no right to securities that are in the hands of the borrower.
Given that the borrower will often have sold on the securities, If the securities lending is carried out under English Law, but a
it is unlikely that the securities would be in the borrower's custodian appoints a sub-custodian in another country, or
hands). lends to an enntity in another country which does not recognise
Fourth, as the lender will cease to be the owner, it will no English Law, what happens when something goes wrongg?
longer be entitled to income from the securities, will not Simplifying a bit, there are three elements in the application of
receive notice or proceeds of corporate actions, and will lose all law to a securities lending transaction. The first is the contrac-
voting rights in respect of the securities. tual law, the second are the home country laws applying to
The standard documentation sets out contractual mecha- each party, and the third is the law applying to the place where
nisms for putting the owner in a comparable economic posi- the securities are held.
tion in respect of income and corporate actions. The contractual law is that which applies to the legal
66 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008
SLMG 2007 pp50-69 10/9/07 5:07 pm Page 67

agreement between the parties, which sets out the contractual


terms relating to the lending transaction.
Most lending agreements are in practice subject to
English law, so that any disputes can be settled in the
courts of England.
Where a party incorporated in England proposes to conduct a
securities lending transaction with a party incorporated in
another country, the UK-incorporated party will need to check,
normally by obtaining a legal opinion, that the home country
law of the other party will allow the contract to be given effect
in accordance with its terms.
This opinion will normally focus in particular on the close out
and netting (set-off) provisions of the legal agreement that
apply in the insolvency of either party (see section on netting in
Chapter 5). This together with the collateralisation and margin
arrangements should keep the risks in conducting such busi-
ness to acceptable levels.
As regards the law relating to where the securities are held,
securities borrowers need to be certain that they have good
title to the securities since there is a potential for conflicts of
laws or legal uncertainty in this respect.
The traditional rule for determining the validity of a disposi- Who organisees that?
tion of securities is to look to the law of the place where the It is between the borrower and the lender (or its designated
securities are located [the “lex sitae” or “lex situs” principle]. agent or custodian).
This is, however, difficult to apply if securities are held
through a number of intermediaries. The generally preferred Why do lenders get higher loan rates if they take cash for a
approach now is to look to the location of the intermediary scrip dividend?
maintaining the account into which the securities are credited Usually there is a financial incentive offered by a company to
(the “PRIMA” principle). shareholders that take scrip rather than cash. Therefore the
The EU Collateral Directive as implemented in EU member borrower can take scrip, sell it to give additional income
states applies the PRIMA principle, and there are plans to over the cash amount of the dividend, and may share this
extend it further through the so-called Hague Convention. with the lender.
What happens if the lender has lent a stock over the What is colllateral?
dividend period? Financial instruments given by borrowers to lenders to protect
The “borrower” of stock makes good to the lender the dividend them against default over the term of the loan. Collateral secu-
amount that the lender would have received had it not lent the rities are usually marked to market every day.
stock in the first place. This amount is the gross dividend less Borrowers are required to maintain collateral with a market
any withholding tax that the lender would value at least equal to the market value of the loaned securities
usually incur. plus some agreed margin “haircut”.
Does the leender still receive the dividend or coupon What is a haircut?
payment? “Haircut” or margin is the extra collateral that a borrower pro-
No, the lender receives from the borrower a “manufactured” vides in order to mitigate any adverse movements in the value
dividend or coupon rather than the dividend or coupon itself. of the loan and value of collateral between the mark-to-market
date, and the value of liquidated collateral and repurchased
Does the lender still receive the (manufacturedd) dividend or loan securities on the default date.
coupon payment on the due date?
Yes, the lender’s account should be credited on the due date by How often is the collateral valued?
the borrower, even if the borrower has not actually received it. Usually every day, as with the loaned securities, but it can be
more frequent in exceptional circumstances.
What happens if the lender has loaned a stock over a scrip
dividend record date – does it get the relevant cash or stock Is the collateral held in thhe lender’s name or its agent’s name?
on the pay date? It should be held in the lender’s name, but can be held by an
The lender should tell the borrower in advance which it would agent to the lender’s order if so desired.
like to receive. Again the borrower must manufacture the cash
or stock for the lender even if it is receiving the other. (Source SPITALFIELDS ADVISORS) SLMG
SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 67
SLMG 2007 pp50-69 10/9/07 5:08 pm Page 68

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To sustain success in this competitive market,
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Investors have always been thrilled by hedge
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regulators’ inability to implement a framework
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68 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp50-69 10/9/07 5:08 pm Page 69

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SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 70

Securities Lending GLOSSARY

Securities Lending A-Z


existing obligations to and claims Days to cover lateral in time for the settlement
A ccrued interest
Coupon interest that is earned
on a counterpart falling under
that arrangement by one single
The number of days (in terms of
average daily outright
of a transaction.
on a bond from the last coupon net payment, immediately upon buying/selling turnover of the Free-of-payment delivery
date to the present date. the occurrence of a defined event security) that it would take to Delivery of securities with no cor-
of default. cover the value on loan as of the responding payment of funds.
All-in dividend date reported.
The sum of the manufactured
dividend plus the fee to be paid
by the borrower to the lender,
Collateral
Securities or cash delivered by a
borrower to a lender to support a
Dividend date
The date upon which the issuer
G eneral Collateral (GC)
Securities that are not "special"
expressed as a percentage of the loan of securities or cash. of the share pays the dividend to in the market and may be used,
dividend on the stock on loan. the owner (as at the ex-dividend typically, simply to collateralise
Conduit borrower date) of the security. cash borrowings. Also known as
All-in price A party that borrows a security in "stock collateral".
The market price of a bond plus order to on-deliver it to a client, Double counting
accrued interest. Also known as rather than borrowing it for its Financing transactions include a Global Master Securities Lending
"dirty price". own in-house needs. proportion of trades executed by Agreement (GMSLA)
intermediaries. These transac- A market standard legal agree-
Corporate event tions artificially inflate the overall ment drafted with a view to com-
B earer securities
Securities that are not registered
An event in relation to a security
as a result of which the holder
value on loan and are, therefore,
automatically removed prior to
pliance with English law. An
English law opinion has been
to any particular party on the will be or may become entitled to: publication of the data. In brief, obtained on the agreement.
books of the issuing company * a benefit (dividend, rights the process to exclude double
and hence are payable to the
party that is in possession.
issue etc.); or
* securities other than those
counting removes transaction
values where one participant is H aircut
Initial margin on a repo transac-
which he holds prior to that seen to lend and borrow the
Beneficial owner event (takeover offer, scheme of same security value from two tion. Generally expressed as a
A party that is entitled to the arrangement, conversion, other participants on the same percentage of the market price.
rights of ownership of property. redemption etc). This type of cor- day. The originating lender and
In the context of securities, the porate event is also known as a end borrower values are retained Hold in Custody (HIC) repo
term is usually used to distin- stock situation. to represent the true level of Repo whereby the borrower of
guish this party from the regis- value on loan. cash segregates collateral in a
tered holder (a nominee for Coupon date specific internal account for the
cash lender, rather than deliver-
example) that holds the securi-
ties for the beneficial owner.
The date upon which the issuer
of an interest paying security
makes an interest payment to the
E RISA
The Employee Retirement
ing out collateral.

Buy-in
The practice whereby a lender of
registered holder (as of the ex-
coupon date) of that security.
Income Security Act, a U.S. law
governing private U.S. pension I cing/putting stock on hold
The practice whereby a lender
securities enters the open market Coupons may be paid (in most plan activity, introduced in 1974
to buy securities in order to cases) annually, semi-annually or and amended in 1981 to permit holds securities at a borrower's
replace those that have not been quarterly. plans to lend securities in accor- request in anticipation of that
returned by a borrower. Strict dance with specific guidelines. borrower taking delivery.
market practices govern the buy-
in process. D aylight exposure
The period in the day when one
Equivalent
A term denoting that the securi-
Indemnity
A form of guarantee or insur-
ties or collateral returned must ance, frequently offered by
C arry
The difference between interest
party to a trade has a temporary
credit exposure to the other due
to one side of the trade having
be of an identical type, nominal
value, description and amount to
Agents. Terms vary significantly
and the value of the indemnity
return on securities held and those originally provided. If, dur- does also.
settled before the other. It would
financing costs. See Negative normally mean that the loan had ing the term of a loan, there is a
carry and Positive carry. corporate action in relation to ISLA
settled but the delivery of collat- The International Securities
Negative carry: Net cost incurred eral would settle at a later time, loaned securities, the lender is
when financing cost exceeds normally entitled to specify at Lenders Association, the trade
although there would also be association for securities lenders.
yield on securities that are being exposure if settlement happened that time the form in which he
financed. in reverse order. The period wishes to receive equivalent
Positive carry: Net gain earned securities or collateral on termi- ISMA
extends from the point of settle- The International Securities
when financing cost is less than ment of the first side of the trade nation of the loan. The legal
yield on financed securities. agreement will also specify the Market Association, an organisa-
to the time of settlement of the tion of international securities
other. It occurs because the two form in which equivalent securi-
Cash trade ties or collateral are to be dealers, maintains offices in
sides of the trade are not linked Zurich. ISMA is an industry
Where an outright purchase or in many settlement systems or returned in the case of other cor-
sale of securities is made for a porate events. group that sets standards of
settlement of loan and collateral business conduct in the global
purpose other than financing. take place in different settlement securities markets, advises regu-
Close-out (and) netting
An arrangement to settle all
systems, possibly in different
time zones. F ail
The failure to deliver cash or col-
lators on market practices and
provides educational opportuni-

70 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 71

ties for industry participants. ing maturities, rates, currencies, acts on its own behalf or substi- cial"/in high demand for any of
or margins, the repo trader gen- tutes its own risk for that of its several reasons, are sought after
L IBA
London Investment Banking
erates a P&L.
Moving average
client when trading.
Proprietary trading
in the market by borrowers.
Holders of special securities will
be able to earn incremental
Association, the principal trade A statistical measure that reports Trading activity conducted by a income on the securities by lend-
association in the UK for firms the average of the previous stat- securities firm for its own account ing them out via repo, sell/buy, or
active in the investment banking ed number of day's data in pref- rather than for its clients. securities lending transactions.
and securities industry. LIBA erence to the actual value for that
members are generally borrowers
and intermediaries in the stock
lending market.
day. This process can improve
trend recognition by smoothing
shorter-term fluctuations.
R ebate rate
The interest paid on the cash
Specials
Securities that for any of several
reasons are sought after in the
side of a securities lending trans- market by borrowers. Holders of
M anufactured dividends
When securities that have been
N egative carry
Net cost incurred when financing
action. A rebate rate of interest
implies a fee for the loan.
special securities will be able to
earn incremental income on the
securities by lending them out
lent out pay a cash dividend, the cost exceeds yield on securities Recall via repo, sell/buy, or securities
borrower of the securities is gen- that are being financed. Request by a lender for the return lending transactions
erally contractually obligated to of securities from a borrower.
pass on the distribution to the Net paying securities Spot
lender of the securities. This pay- Securities on which interest or Repo Standard non-dollar repo settle-
ment "pass-through" is known as other distributions are paid net A transaction whereby one party ment two business days forward.
a manufactured dividend. of withholding taxes. sells securities to another party A money market convention.
and agrees to repurchase the
Margin, initial
Refers to the excess of cash over
securities or securities over cash
O pen transactions
Trades done with no fixed maturi-
securities at a future date at a
fixed price.
Substitution
The ability of a lender of general
collateral to recall securities from
in a repo/reverse repo, sell/buy- ty date. Repricing a borrower and replace them
buy/sell, or securities lending Occurs when the market value of with other securities of the same
transaction. One party may
require an initial margin due to P air off
a security in a repo or securities
lending transaction changes and
value.
the perceived credit risk of the
counterpart. No initial margin is
typically expected in fixed-income
The netting of cash and securi-
ties in the settlement of two
trades in the same security for
the parties to the transaction
agree to adjust the amount of T erm transactions
Trades with a fixed maturity date.
securities or cash in a transaction
transactions, but where it does the same value date. Pairing off to the correct margin level.
occur, it normally ranges from allows for settlement of net dif- Third party lending
1% to 3%. ferences. Reverse repo The system whereby an
A transaction whereby one party institution lends directly to a
Margin, variation Partialling purchases securities from anoth- borrower and retains decision-
Once a repo or securities lending Market practice or a specific er party and agrees to resell the making power, while all
transaction has settled. The vari- agreement between counterparts securities at a future date at a administration (settlement col-
ation margin on a repo or securi- that allows a part-delivery against fixed price. lateral monitoring, and so on) is
ties lending transaction refers to an obligation to deliver securities. handled by a third party, such as
the band within which the value a global custodian.
of the security used as collateral
may fluctuate before triggering a
Pay for hold
The practice of paying a fee to
S ecurities lending
The collateralised (usually) bor- Triparty repo
margin call. Variation margin the lender to hold securities for a rowing and lending of Securities. Repo used for funding/invest-
may be expressed either in %age particular borrower until the bor- This business allows large ment purposes in which bonds
or absolute currency terms. The rower is able to take delivery. investors (for example, Pension and cash are delivered by the
GMRA (See PSA/ISMA Global Funds, Insurance and Assurance trading counterparts to an inde-
Master Repurchase Agreement) Positive carry Companies and Investment pendent custodian bank or clear-
states that all legitimate requests Net gain earned when financing Funds of various types) to gener- ing house (the 'Triparty
for variation margin must be cost is less than yield on financed ate additional income from their Custodian") that is responsible
honoured. securities. investments in securities by lend- for ensuring the maintenance of
ing them. There is no formal adequate collateral value, both at
Margin call Prime brokerage market structure, and no the outset of a trade and over its
A request by one party in a trans- A service offered by both Bank compulsion to use any interme- term. The Triparty Custodian
action for the initial margin to be and Non-Bank financial institu- diary. Lenders and Borrowers can marks the collateral to market
reinstated or to restore the origi- tions (e.g. Investment Banks and thus configure their programs to daily and makes margin calls on
nal cash/securities ratio to parity. Broker/Dealers) to support cus- suit individual needs - using either counterpart, as required.
tomers' proprietary trading, either Agent or Principal Triparty repo reduces the opera-
Mark-to-market investment and hedging activi- Intermediaries as required, or tional/systems barriers to partici-
The act of revaluing the securi- ties. Clients of this service are going direct to the Proprietary pating in the repo markets.
ties collateral in a repo or securi- frequently Hedge Funds, who are Borrowers, including Hedge
ties lending transaction to cur-
rent market values. This maybe
done daily or at a suitable inter-
often long on ideas, short on
capital and the necessary support
infrastructure. Prime Brokerage
Funds. Securities are borrowed
to support hedging and V alue
The value of loan securities or
arbitrage transactions,
val agreed upon by the parties to may therefore include Clearing, market making, as well as settle- collateral as determined using
a transaction. Custody and Reporting, but also ment activities. the last (or latest available) sale
Securities Lending, Financing price on the principal exchange
Matched/mismatched book and Execution. Short squeeze (bear squeeze) where the instrument was traded
Refers to the interest rate arbi- Where one or more market partic- or, if not so traded, using the
trage book that a repo trader may Principal ipants reduce liquidity by with- most recent bid or offered prices.
run. By matching or mismatch- A party to a loan transaction that holding securities that are "spe- © Spitalfields Advisors

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 71


SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 72

Service Provider PROFILES

Bastian Cohen

Company Brief: ing. Fortis has a dedicated strategy and product


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Cayman, Denmark, Germany, France, - Equity financing
Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, - REPO, bond and collateral financing
Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey and the United - Equity swaps
States.
Fortis is known for its dedication and its proven
ability to develop new products, services and tech-
nology. As a result we now rank among the most
important principal players worldwide in the secu-
rities borrowing and lending market.
Structured transactions are an interesting alterna-
tive to traditional securities borrowing and lend-

Key Locations: Key Contacts:


Amsterdam: Wouter van der Ploeg, Managing Director Sales
+ 31 20 527 1499 Securities Financing
London: Sander Baauw, Executive Director Sales Equity
+ 44 20 7444 8511 Financing
New York: Francois Nissen, Executive Director Sales Structured
+ 1 212 418 6802 Securities Financing
Paris: Manuel Postigo, Executive Director Sales Bond and
+ 33 1 5567 9084 Collateral Financing
Hong Kong:
+ 852 2823 2188

72 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 73

Guy d’Albrand

Company Brief: Guy d’Albrand has been global head of Liquidity


Société Générale Securities Services (SGSS) liq- Management since fall 2004. He began his career as
uidity management division offers several cash a futures broker and then spent several years as an
and securities liquidity programmes through its auditor at Société Générale. He joined Fimat to run
various teams. Our product range includes securi- the Tokyo office and was then appointed executive
ties lending and borrowing services, middle and vice president of Société Générale Securities, North
back office securities lending in-sourcing and cash Pacific. He then headed up the online brokerage
collateral reinvestment services. operations in Japan. In 2002, d’Albrand moved back
Our lending and borrowing programmes are to head office to become global head of audit for the
entirely customer driven and tailored to clients’ Corporate and Investment Banking Division of the
needs. Through our dedicated Global Customer bank.
Service Unit, in charge of operational support, we He is a graduate of Ecole Superieure de Commerce
help set a fully customised monitoring and report- de Paris and holds a BA in Mathematics from Paris
ing for your lending activity. Our cash reinvest- IV University and a post-graduate degree in Japanese
ment programmes are diversified yet remain fully language and civilization from Paris VII University.
compliant within your guidelines.
Société Générale’s financial strength and commit- Key Services:
ment to the securities services field make SGSS a - Securities lending and borrowing services
strong agent. Moreover, our safe and flexible tech- - Securities lending and borrowing middle
nology will help make the most of your assets and back office in-sourcing services
with flexibility and dedication. - Excess Cash and Cash collateral reinvest-
ment services
Guy d’Albrand, global head of Liquidity - SG short term paper programs
Management, SGSS

Key Locations: Key Contacts:


Paris: Europe:
Société Générale Securities Services Denis Tréboit
Liquidity Management Head of Securities Lending Group
52, rue de la Victoire T: +33 (0) 1 53 05 48 42
75009 Paris denis.treboit@socgen.com
France
T: +33 (0) 1 53 05 48 42 www.sg-securities-services.com
F: +33 (0) 1 53 05 47 54

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 73


SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 74

Service Provider PROFILES

Felix Oegerli

Company Brief: Collateral Trading and Management. Oegerli holds


COMIT offers the financial industry a wide range of a degree as Swiss federal certified banking expert,
consulting services, individual software develop- and is a frequent conference speaker and industry
ment and standard software solutions such as expert on securities lending, repo and collateral trad-
FINACE. FINACE is the leading modular and fully ing and management.
integrated solution in the area of securities lending,
repo and collateral management covering front to
back processes.
Key Services:
FINACE is the leading modular and fully integrated
Felix Oegerli, member of the executive committee, solution in the area of securities lending, repo and
COMIT collateral management covering front to back
processes.
Oegerli is member of the executive committee of
COMIT, a consulting, IT solutions and integration
partner of the finance industry. He was the founder
and CEO of IFBS, an IT application solutions and
consulting firm specialising in securities lending, repo
and collateral management. IFBS was recently sold
to COMIT. Prior to launching IFBS, Oegerli held a
number of business leadership roles at UBS in
Zurich, New York, and London for over 20 years in
different functions. Between 1990 and 1999, he was
responsible for the creation and expansion of the
Securities Lending, Repo and Prime Brokerage busi-
ness at UBS Zurich, was deputy global head of
Securities Lending and Repo, global head of Prime
Brokerage and head of global product management

Key Locations: Key Contacts:


IFBS AG, Buckhauserstrasse 11 Felix Oegerli, CEO, IFBS
CH_8048 Zurich, Switzerland T: +41 (0)44 218 14 14
F: +41 (0)44 218 14 18
E: info@ifbs.com
W: www.ifbs.com

74 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 75

Brian Lamb

Company Brief: joining EquiLend, Lamb spent 17 years with Barclays


EquiLend is a leading provider of trade and post- Global Investors (BGI). While at BGI, Lamb held var-
trade services for the securities finance industry. ious positions, including head of Global Derivatives
Owned by a consortium of 11 of the largest global Services and Cash Strategist. Lamb spent many years
financial services firms, EquiLend facilitates in securities finance while at BGI. His roles in that
straight through processing by using a common area ranged from product manager for Fixed Income
standards-based protocol and infrastructure, Securities Lending, as well as program manager and
which automates formerly manual business alternate board member of EquiLend. He is one of
processes. Used by borrowers and lenders the thought leaders among the initial ownership
throughout the world, the EquiLend platform group that helped design the EquiLend platform.
increases efficiency and enables access to addi- Lamb is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame,
tional liquidity. EquiLend's end to end solutions, and holds a BS in business administration with a con-
which reduce the risk of potential errors and centration in finance.
eliminate the need to maintain costly point to
point connections, include: Availability, Key Services:
AutoBorrow, AutoBorrow Express, Negotiation, EquiLend is a leading technology provider of
EquiLend AuctionPort, Contract Comparison, trade and post-trade services for the securities
Mark-to-Market Comparison, Returns, Recalls, finance industry. EquiLend facilitates straight
Billing Comparison and Delivery, Dividend Claims through processing by automating formerly man-
Comparison, and Agent Lender Disclosure (ALD). ual business processes. EquiLend's services sup-
port the full lifecycle of a trade. In doing so, the
Brian Lamb CEO, Equilend Holdings EquiLend platform increases efficiency, mitigates
As CEO, Brian Lamb is responsible for all global risk, allows for scalability, and cost containment.
operations for EquiLend, its affiliates and subsidiaries. The EquiLend platform also supports the execu-
He brings 20 years of hands on experience and a deep tion of payment and delivery instructions, as well
knowledge of the global securities finance industry as Agency Lender Disclosure (ALD), through the
with an emphasis on technology solutions. Prior to DTCC.

Key Locations: Key Contacts:


New York: Brian Lamb
17 State Street, 9th Floor CEO
New York NY 10004
T: +1 212 901 2200 Michelle Lindenberger
London: Vice president, marketing and communications
54 Lombard Street E: michelle.lindenberger@equilend.com
London EC3P 3AH
+44 20 7743 9510

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 75


SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 76

Service Provider PROFILES

Daniel Fowler

Company Brief: 2006, Fowler held several jobs that gave him broad
eSecLending is a global securities lending man- exposure to both technology and financial markets.
ager and a leading provider and administrator of Most recently, he was employed by Brown Brothers
customised securities lending programmes. Its Harriman as vice president of Systems, Private
programmes attract some of the world’s largest Account and Securities Lending. Prior to that, he
and most sophisticated asset gatherers, includ- worked at Boston Global Advisors as vice president,
ing pension funds, mutual funds, investment head of Technology. Fowler holds a BS in Computer
managers and insurance companies. The firm Science from the University of Massachusetts.
awards principal securities lending business
through a competitive auction process that has
provided clients with higher returns compared to Key Services:
traditional programme structures and improved Securities lending management and administra-
transparency and objective criteria upon which to tion
make decisions. The company has auctioned Cash collateral portfolio management
over USD1.3 trillion to date. eSecLending main-
tains offices in Boston, London and Burlington,
Vermont. Securities Finance Trust Company, an
eSecLending company, performs all regulated
business activities.

Daniel Fowler, managing director and chief informa-


tion officer, eSecLending

Daniel Fowler’s primary responsibilities within


eSecLending are for systems and information tech-
nology and application. Prior to joining the firm in

Key Locations: Key Contacts:


Boston: Christopher Jaynes
175 Federal Street, 11th Floor T: +1.617.204.4500
Boston, MA 02110 F: +1.617.204.4599
United States info@eseclending.com
T: +1.617.204.4500
F: +1.617.204.4599
London:
1st Floor
10 King William Street
London EC4N 7TW
United Kingdom
T: +44 20 7469 6000
F: +44 20 7469 6099
76 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008
SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 77

- Expert industry knowledge


- Outstanding responsiveness to our clients
- The reliability of a company that has worked
with some of the world’s largest financial insti-
tutions to deliver many successful projects
Visit www.4sight.com for further details

Alastair Chisholm, managing director, 4sight


Financial Software

Alastair Chisholm Alastair Chisholm is managing director of 4sight


Financial Software. 4sight was formed in 2003
when he led an MBO of the Securities Finance
and Settlement business units from OM
Technology, where he was general manager.
Chisholm has been involved in software develop-
Company Brief: ment for the financial markets for the last 18 years
4sight Financial Software is a leading supplier in a variety of roles, both with software houses and
of innovative software solutions to the securi- financial organisations. Prior to joining OM in
ties finance, settlement and connectivity mar- 1999, he was a director at TCAM Systems and
kets with offices and clients worldwide. held senior positions with Accenture, NatWest
4sight Securities Finance is a flexible modular Markets and Wood Mackenzie.
solution that empowers financial institutions of
all sizes, from the smallest direct lender to the Key Services:
global custodian, broker or intermediary on an The key features of our company and products
agency or principal basis. It supports borrow- include:
ing, lending, repo, swaps and collateral man- - Highly configurable software solutions to
agement across the equity and fixed-income meet each client’s unique individual require-
markets and provides 24 hour continuous oper- ments.
ation, inter-desk trading, a ‘global book’, real- - Quick and easy integration with third party
time value dated position keeping and a power- solutions.
ful web reporting module, allowing full front to - A professional implementation, ensuring a
back office processing. minimum of disruption to business during sys-
4sight Securities Finance also integrates seam- tem changeover.
lessly with external systems and employs a data - Many years of expertise in our chosen fields.
model that enables quick and easy real time - A strong focus on development and cus-
access to your data, with the ability to import tomer service to ensure our products stay at the
and export data in any required format. forefront of market requirements, and our
As a company 4sight delivers: clients continue to remain happy.
- Ground breaking securities lending software
at the cutting edge of technology

Key Locations: Key Contacts:


4sight Financial Software Ltd Judith McKelvey, global sales director
Conference House T: +44 (0) 207 043 8319
152 Morrison Street judith.mckelvey@4sight.com
Edinburgh, EH3 8EB
United Kingdom Jason Hayes, North American sales director
T: +44 (0) 131 557 5522 T: +1 416 548 7922
4sight Financial Software Ltd jason.hayes@4sight.com
11-29 Fashion Street
London, E1 6PX Peter Sanders, Asia Pacific general manager
United Kingdom T: +61 (0) 2 90378416
T: +44 (0) 207 043 8300 peter.sanders@4sight.com

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 77


SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 78

Service Provider PROFILES

Sandie O’Connor

Company Brief: Services, an industry leader in custody and investor


JPMorgan's breadth of capability, financial services. O'Connor serves on the executive commit-
strength, professional expertise and seamless tee for Worldwide Securities Services.
operation make it a strong lending agent to its In this role, O’Connor is responsible for domestic
clients. JPMorgan’s lending program enables and international securities lending, foreign
investors to access a broad spectrum of lending exchange, futures and options clearing and transi-
markets, with a diverse borrower base while tion management. She directs overall strategy for
achieving very competitive bids for their securi- this product set including product development,
ties - all of this in an environment designed not marketing, investment management and opera-
to compromise the activities of their fund man- tions worldwide. She is also focused on positioning
agers. As one of the founding members of the SLEP business for growth by delivering innova-
EquiLend, a global automated platform for bor- tive, market leading products, services and client
rowers and lenders, JPMorgan is at the forefront facing technology.
of technology and is ideally placed given its
integrated lending, custody and accounting plat- Key Services:
forms. JPMorgan also affords clients a broad Discretionary (Agency) Securities Lending
indemnification against borrower default. Services
Directed Securities Lending Services
Sandie O’Connor, managing director and business Third Party (non custody) Securities Lending
executive, Securities Lending and Execution Principal Securities Lending Program (via
Products, JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services JPMorgan Securities Ltd)
Tri-Party collateral management and Escrow
O’Connor is a managing director and global head services
of the Securities Lending and Execution Products Cash collateral reinvestment services
(SLEP) business of JPMorgan Worldwide Securities

Key Locations: paul.uk.wilson@jpmorgan.com


New York: T: (+44-20)7-742-0249
T: +1-212-552-8075 Europe, Middle East, Africa
London: Michael Fox, head of Sales
T: (44-20)7-742-0249 michael.uk.fox@jpmorgan.com
Sydney: T: (+44-20)7-742-0256
T: (61-2)9250 4606 Western Hemisphere
William Smith, managing director, head of Sales
The Americas
Key Contacts: T: +1-212-552-8075
Europe, Middle East, Africa
Paul Wilson, managing director, global head Client
Management and Sales

78 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 79

Mark Fieldhouse

Company Brief: tic professionals in 15 markets offer proven


RBC Dexia Investor Services offers proven expertise to enhance clients’ business perform-
expertise in global custody, fund and pension ance.
administration and shareholder services to
institutions around the world. Established in Mark Fieldhouse, head, Technical Sales, Americas,
January 2006, we are a joint venture equally RBC Dexia Investor Services
owned by Royal Bank of Canada and Dexia. We
rank among the world’s top 10 global custodi- Mark Fieldhouse serves as head, Technical Sales,
ans, with USD2.4 trillion in client assets under Americas. His team is responsible for overall
administration. growth and development of the Global Products
RBC Dexia Investor Services offers clients a client base, as well as the product level manage-
complete range of investor services supported ment of its strategic clients in North America.
by: a worldwide network of offices in 15 coun- Global products include securities lending, foreign
tries on four continents; unparalleled European exchange, cash management and portfolio man-
transfer agency capabilities; fund administration agement services.
services in 14 global markets; strong credit rat-
ings: Aa3 (Moody’s), AA- (S&P); more than 100 Key Services:
years of experience in institutional financial RBC Dexia Investor Services provides clients an
services; products and technology that meet extensive range of solutions including: global
clients’ present and future needs; top ratings for custody, fund and pension administration,
client service in industry client satisfaction sur- shareholder services, distribution support, rec-
veys. onciliation services, transition management,
Our innovative products and services help investment analytics, compliance monitoring
clients maximise operational efficiency, min- and reporting, securities lending and borrowing,
imise risk and enhance portfolio returns. And treasury services and commission recapture.
our more than 4,320 experienced and enthusias-
rbcdexia-is.com
Key Locations: Key Contacts:
RBC Dexia Investor Services Tony Johnson
71 Queen Victoria Street Global Head, Sales & Relationship Management
London EC4 V4DE 44 20 7653 4096/antony.johnson@rbcdexia-is.com
United Kingdom Mark Fieldhouse
Director, Technical Sales, North America
RBC Dexia Investor Services 1 416 955 5525/mark.fieldhouse@rbcdexia-is.com
77 King Street West, 35th Floor
Toronto, ON M5W 1P9 Blair McPherson
Canada Director, Technical Sales, Europe, Middle East &
Asia Pacific
44 20 7653 6365/blair.mcpherson@rbcdexia-is.com

SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL 79


SLMG 2007 pp70-82 10/9/07 5:28 pm Page 80

Service Provider PROFILES


specific portfolio characteristics. This has
allowed us to create an attractive programme
for some of the world's most sophisticated
investors.
BBH stands alone as an organisation large
enough to compete with behemoth organisa-
tions, yet small enough to be innovative, flexi-
ble, and responsive at the individual client level.
We consistently develop creative solutions in
support of new initiatives and growth. We work
hard to earn our clients’ trust as a reliable, con-
Elizabeth Seidel sultative business partner who does not com-
pete; rather our interests are truly aligned. We
possess the experience, depth, and stability of a
major custodian bank, yet one with the agility
and nimbleness needed to offer clients a “total
solution” based on their current securities lend-
Company Brief: ing objectives. The BBH programme offers its
A global leader with nearly 200 years of experi- clients multiple routes to market, compelling
ence, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) helps economics, full customisation, transparency,
many of the world's most sophisticated mutual comprehensive risk management, and award
funds, investment managers, banks and insur- winning relationship management.
ance companies achieve their international busi- For more info please visit www.bbh.com
ness objectives. With approximately USD2 tril- Elizabeth Seidel, senior vice president, co-manager
lion of assets in safekeeping, BBH provides spe- of BBH Global Securities Lending
cialist services and innovative solutions to
clients in over 90 markets for custody, account- Elizabeth Seidel joined BBH in 1999 and was
ing, administration, securities lending, foreign recently appointed department co-manager for
exchange, and brokerage services. Combining Global Securities Lending. In her new role, Seidel
entrepreneurial thinking, innovative technology, has management responsibility for Relationship
and unmatched client service, BBH is consis- Management, Risk Management, Sales, and
tently ranked among the world's top global cus- Marketing groups.
todians and maintains a presence in each of the Key Services:
principal financial centres around the globe. * Award-winning custodial and third party
BBH Global Securities Lending leverages these agency lending
resources to achieve customised solutions and * Auction/exclusive platform
optimised returns for every client. Delivered * In-house cash collateral reinvestment
through award winning client service and inte- option
grated technology, our product expertise with * Relationship excellence
respect to trading, risk management, and seam- * Critical market intelligence provided
less product delivery, allows us to customise through daily trading summaries, specials
each securities lending programme based upon list, newsletter

Key Locations: Key Contacts:


London: London:
Brown Brothers Harriman Ltd
Veritas House Ciaran McNamee
125 Finsbury Pavement T: +44 (0) 2076 142114
London EC2A 1PN
Boston: Boston:
Brown Brother Harriman & Co Casey Gildea
40 Water Street T: +1 617 772 1492
Boston, MA 02109

80 INVESTOR SERVICES JOURNAL SECURITIES LENDING MARKET GUIDE 2008


Project1 10/9/07 12:15 pm Page 3

Time to change?

Choose a flexible Securities Finance solution


that integrates seamlessly

4sight Securities Finance provides a full front • Software with the flexibility to be tailored to your
to back office system for lending, borrowing, unique business requirements
repo, swaps, and collateral management of
• Maximise efficiency through quick and seamless
both Equities and Fixed Income Securities.
integration with your existing systems
4sight Securities Finance is a proven solution
used globally by a wide range of financial • Quick and easy real time access to your data,
institutions, and can be used on an agency with the ability to import and export in any
or principal basis. required format.

email: info@4sight.com www.4sight.com

Financial Markets Solutions EDINBURGH • LONDON • TORONTO • SYDNEY


Project1 10/9/07 12:15 pm Page 4

Crowded Pool or Exclusive Access?


Crowded Pool or Exclusive
Access? The choice is yours.

eSecLending takes an active


approach to securities lending by
managing customized programs
for institutional investors. Unlike
the traditional agency approach,
where many lenders’ portfolios
are grouped together and their
securities sit in a pool waiting to
be borrowed, eSecLending markets
or each client’s portfolio individually
and awards lending rights to the
optimal bidders.

Our clients receive more lending


revenue compared to traditional
programs, because eSecLending
introduces objective competition
via an auction process.
eSecLending clients achieve all
this while maintaining conserva-
tive risk parameters, retaining
close control over their lending
programs and receiving superior,
customized client service.

United States +1.617.204.4500


Europe +44 (0) 207.469.6000
info@eseclending.com
eSecLending provides services only to institutional investors and other persons who
www.eseclending.com
have professional investment experience. Neither the services offered by
eSecLending nor this advertisement are directed at persons not possessing such
experience. Securities Finance Trust Company, an eSecLending company, performs
all regulated business activities. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Our services may not be suitable for all lenders.

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