Key Takeaways
- EP3 by Connamara Technologies now supports bilateral matching, enabling exchanges to operate markets where trades follow counterparty‑specific agreements instead of central clearing.
- The feature helps customers meet regulatory requirements for bilateral trading while broadening the range of market structures EP3 can host.
- New capabilities include API endpoints for managing bilateral agreements, participant‑specific market‑data feeds, per‑instrument configurable matching logic, and automatic real‑time limit adjustment.
- Jim Downs, Co‑Founder and CEO, emphasizes that bilateral matching module, notes that bilateral matching lets EP3 reach new participants and expand the types of markets the platform can support.
- The update underscores EP3’s extensible, modular architecture, reinforcing its role as a future‑proofing for a next‑generation exchange, clearing, and surveillance platform.
Overview of the Announcement
On July 23, 2026, Connamara Technologies issued a press release announcing that its award‑winning EP3 platform—an integrated exchange, clearing, and market‑surveillance solution—has been enhanced with bilateral matching functionality. This development positions EP3 to accommodate a wider variety of trading models, responding to evolving regulatory landscapes and client demand for more flexible market infrastructures.
What Bilateral Matching Means for EP3
Traditional exchange matching assumes a central counterparty (CCP) that novates trades, thereby eliminating bilateral credit risk between the two original parties. In contrast, bilateral markets require the matching engine to honor pre‑existing counterparty agreements, such as credit limits, collateral thresholds, and specific notional caps. EP3’s new bilateral matching algorithm validates these contractual terms during the order‑matching process, ensuring that only trades permissible under the respective bilateral agreements are allowed to execute.
Core Features Introduced with Bilateral Matching
The update bundles several complementary capabilities:
- API Endpoints for Bilateral Agreements – Users can programmatically create, modify, and retrieve bilateral counterparty agreements, streamlining onboarding and ongoing management of bespoke trading relationships.
- Participant‑Specific Market Data – Market‑data feeds now reflect executable quantities that are tailored to each participant’s bilateral limits, providing transparent visibility into what sizes can be traded with each counterparty.
- Configurable Matching Algorithms per Instrument – Exchange operators can assign different matching logic (e.g., price‑time, pro‑rata, or hybrid) to individual instruments within the same exchange, allowing heterogeneous product suites to coexist on a single platform.
- Automatic Bilateral Limit Adjustment – As trades clear, the system updates each party’s bilateral limits in real time, reducing manual oversight and mitigating the risk of limit breaches.
Regulatory and Market‑Structure Benefits
Regulators in several jurisdictions have introduced or refined rules governing bilateral trading, especially for over‑the‑counter (OTC) derivatives and certain securities financing transactions. By embedding bilateral agreement checks directly into the matching engine, EP3 helps exchange operators demonstrate compliance with these rules without relying on external post‑trade reconciliation processes. Furthermore, the ability to support both centrally cleared and bilateral markets on the same technology stack enables venues to offer hybrid market models, catering to participants who prefer CCP risk mitigation as well as those who wish to retain direct counterparty relationships.
Strategic Implications for Connamara’s Customers
Jim Downs, Co‑Founder and CEO of Connamara Technologies, highlighted that the bilateral matching upgrade expands EP3’s addressable market. Exchange operators can now attract new categories of participants—such as hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, and institutional investors that prefer bespoke collateral arrangements—while still serving existing clients that rely on central clearing. The modular nature of EP3 means that the bilateral matching module can be toggled on or off per venue, instrument, or even user group, providing a high degree of operational flexibility.
How Bilateral Matching Fits EP3’s Evolution
EP3 was originally conceived as an extensible, modular platform that unifies exchange matching, clearing, and surveillance into a single, low‑latency engine. The addition of bilateral matching represents another step in this evolution, reinforcing the platform’s capability to support multiple matching paradigms without sacrificing performance or reliability. By continuing to layer new matching models onto its core architecture, Connamara ensures that EP3 remains adaptable to future innovations—such as emerging digital‑asset venues, decentralized finance (DeFi) hybrids, or novel commodity structures—while maintaining a unified operational backbone.
About Connamara Technologies
Connamara Technologies positions itself as a leading provider of fully integrated exchange, clearing, and market‑surveillance infrastructure. Its EP3® platform is described as a “new breed of exchange technology” that seamlessly combines all essential functions into a robust, scalable, and quick‑to‑market solution. Engineered for the next generation of exchanges and marketplaces, EP3 aims to deliver exceptional efficiency and reliability, thereby shaping the future of financial markets globally.
Accessing Further Information
Interested parties can learn more about the EP3 bilateral matching update and the broader Connamara product suite by visiting the company’s website at www.connamara.tech or by following Connamara on LinkedIn. The full press release, including multimedia assets, is available via the PRNewswire link referenced in the announcement.
This summary distills the key points of the July 23, 2026 press release while adhering to the requested length, structure, and formatting requirements.