US clearing house OCC saw its securities lending CCP activity rise 25% last month compared to July 2015.

Nearly 144,000 new loans were cleared via the Chicago-based firm, the only US central counterparty for equity stock loan transactions.

So far in 2016 stock loan activity is up 41% from 2015 with over one million new trades.

Although a CCP solution for the securities lending market has yet to become the norm, volumes are expected to increase.

Regulatory change has created a demand for cleared solutions and more market participants are looking to CCPs to achieve economies of scale, boost counterparty risk protection and operational efficiencies.

On Monday securities finance firm EquiLend announced it had acquired AQS, a platform which facilitates clearing and settlement via Chicago-based OCC.

"By providing seamless access to OCC’s Market Loan Program, the securities finance market now will have unprecedented access to central clearing services,” said EquiLend chief executive Brian Lamb.

OCC chairman Craig Donohue welcomed the move.

Outside of stock loan, OCC, already the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing firm, cleared 8.1 million futures contracts in July, a 31% increase. 

Exchange-listed options volume decreased 19% compared to July 2015.