It has been a long hot summer in the quest for greater efficiency in the European central counterparty (CCP) infrastructure. Actually, it has been a lot longer than a summer - over 18 months - and a positive result looks as distant as when the quest began.

There was a period last year when it appeared that the three big European CCPs - London Clearing House (LCH), Eurex Clearing and Clearnet - would get together for the common good. But, despite European Securities Forum (ESF) encouragement, both Deutsche Börse and Euronext faced other imperatives which they met by listing themselves and their associated CCPs on their own markets. However, while their IPOs have provided the exchanges with substantial cash resources, it is not immediately apparent what they will spend the money on - and it will be difficult for them to deliver an acceptable return on equity from unutilised cash.