EquiLend Offers Sec Lending Data
EquiLend will soon be adding its voice to the cottage industry of data providers in the securities lending and borrowing market.
In a brief statement, the New York and London-based electronic trading platform for securities lending and borrowing transactions says that it is beta testing a new data service called DataLend which will provide quick access to information relevant to securities lenders and borrowers.
EquiLend would not provide a detailed hypothetical data schema as its plans are still under development. Therefore, it is difficult to make any comparisons to the depth of data provided by other securities lending data providers such as SunGard's Astec and Data Explorers, just purchased by Markit. EquiLend says that its data will include supply, demand and market rates such as the value of securities loaned, the value of securities available to be borrowed and fees involved. The 11-year old platform is used by about 70 firms with an average daily volume of 21,000 transactions valued at about $20 billion.
When asked about the competitive advantage, EquiLend's chief executive officer Brian Lamb cites "lower subscription fees" and more timely information; EquiLend is an actual trading platform. Data on securities borrowing and lending transactions helps borrowers and lenders get a sense of whether they are getting the best deal in terms of what securities are available to be borrowed; what fees can be charged and what fees can be earned.
Written by Chris Kentouris, Editor-in-chief (Chris can be contacted through Chris.Kentouris@hotmail.com)
