Chicago-based clearing house OCC’s stock loan volumes soared in April.

Securities lending CCP activity was up 46% in new loans from April 2015 with 165,042 transactions.

Year-to-date stock loan activity is up 44% from 2015 with 620,166 new loan transactions.

The group, which is the only central counterparty in the US that clears stock loan trades, cleared close to 1.4 million new stock loan transactions last year, up 16% from 2014’s figure.

Last month OCC president Michael McClain said the group had witnessed an increase in requests from agent lenders on behalf of their beneficial owners for information on the benefits of central clearing of stock loan transactions.

"Market participants are looking at how a central counterparty solution can enhance the efficiency of securities lending activity for lenders as well as the broker-dealer borrowing community," McClain said in the group's annual report.

Earlier this year, OCC's business development chief Scot Warren said that expanding the group's centrally cleared model for securities lending was a top priority.

Eurex Clearing, owned by Deutsche Borse, is building its own centrally cleared service for stock loan trades in the US.

Effective use of capital, credit intermediation, risk mitigation, increased utilisation and operational efficiency have all been cited as potential advantages for beneficial owners opting to centrally clear stock loan trades.