The London Stock Exchange has cleared an important hurdle in the roll-out of its anonymous trading platform Baikal, which will launch later this year, after the UK regulator approved a central counterparty to clear trades for the group’s customers.

The UK Financial Services Authority has granted recognised clearing house status to Cassa di Compensazione & Garanzia - which it acquired when it bought Italian exchange Borsa Italiana in October 2007 - according to a statement released yesterday.