European clearing fees are still substantially higher than those in the US – despite increased clearing competition during the past four years – underlining the importance of proposed clearing reforms.

A report from Aite Group, the securities research firm, has found the arrival of new clearing firms in 2007 has yet to push down clearing fees to US levels due to Europe's increasingly fragmented clearing market. The majority of trading is cleared through seven major European clearing houses thereby spreading clearing across multiple pools - meaning firms cannot achieve volume discounts and must pay multiple settlement fees.