The London Stock Exchange has teamed up with the London Clearing House and Euroclear to develop a straight-through settlement service in Euroclear for stocks traded on the LSE, in a move which could significantly cut the cost of cross-border transactions.

The new service is expected to be launched in the second half of next year, after wide market consultation. It will increase the choice of settlement available to users of the LSE, in particular non-UK members firms, who will now be able to settle stocks through either Crest, the UK depositary, or Euroclear.