Swiss structured products provider EFG Financial Products is offering collateral secured instruments (Cosi) for the first time in Germany, after reaching an 'exclusive' agreement with the Scoach trading platform that will enable such products of Swiss origin to be traded in Frankfurt.
So far, 17 Cosis are currently tradable on Scoach in Frankfurt with an overall invested volume of €61.5m.
The issuer of Cosi has to deposit collateral in the form of securities or cash at Swiss custodian Six Sis, and has to align the value of the collateral to the certificate's performance during its term. In the event of issuer insolvency, the collateral is sold to the benefit of the investor.
Cosis have been traded in Switzerland via Scoach's Swiss trading venue in Zurich since September 2009. Seven-hundred of them are listed on the Six Swiss Exchange with an invested volume of more than CHF1.8bn (€1.4bn).
In addition to EFG's Cosis, secured certificates from DWS Go, Commerzbank and Morgan Stanley have been offered in Germany since the end of 2008. Commerzbank and Morgan Stanley deposit the collateral with Germany's central securities depository Clearstream, a Deutsche Börse subsidiary, while collateral for DWS Go certificates is deposited with a trustee.