Structural issues relating to the implementation of the central clearing counterparty (CCP) mechanism by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the London Clearing House (LCH) could delay the project, originally slated for February 2001.

The problems centre on the introduction of margining to the cash markets and the impact this would have on business processes, capital adequacy requirements and IT infrastructure. Industry sources claim that only a handful of institutions are on track to introduce the raft of changes the use of a central counterparty (CCP) will demand.