Australian superannuation fund UniSuper has selected BNP Paribas’ Securities Services to provide triparty collateral services for its trading activity.
This appointment aims to help UniSuper meet its initial margin rules obligations, which require financial institutions to post collateral to back up their non-cleared over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives trades to mitigate counterparty risk.
UniSuper and BNP Paribas established a working relationship when BNP Paribas began to provide custody services to the fund in 2015.
Dharmendra Dayabhai, head of portfolio analysis and implementation at UniSuper, says: “When selecting a collateral manager, we looked at what other areas of our business would benefit and saw the potential optimisation advantage in combining the roles of the custodian, collateral manager and securities lending agent.
“By choosing BNP Paribas, we achieve significant operational efficiencies alongside future optionality in regards to trading and access to liquidity.”
Natalie Floate, APAC head of markets and financing services at BNP Paribas’ Securities Services, says: “Going live with our collateral management services in Australia is another step forward in the evolution of our partnership with one of Australia’s leading superannuation funds.”
