LONDON, Oct 18 Reuters The Madrid stock exchange is stepping up efforts to rival Deutsche Boerse in attracting euro derivatives clearing from London, ahead of a European Union law to cut reliance on postBrexit Britain39;s financial market.

The EU, particularly the European Central Bank, has long sought to end London Stock Exchange Group39;s LSEG dominance in clearing euro interest rate swaps IRS derivatives contracts that are widely used by companies to insure themselves against adverse moves in borrowing costs.

EU states and the European Parliament are approving a draft law requiring banks in the EU to maintain an active account with a clearer in the bloc to process a yettobe determined amount of their IRS business, meaning they would have to pull some activity from London.

EU permission for UK clearers such as LSEG39;s LCH unit to serve customers in the bloc also expires in June 2025.

Jose Manuel OrtizRepiso, head of clearing and repo operations at Switzerland39;s SIX Group, which owns the Madrid bourse, said he was not waiting for mandatory active accounts.

A big sales effort was now underway with hundreds of buy side, sell side and liquidity provider clients contacted, he told Reuters.

Madrid has long offered IRS clearing, but was little known and largely served local clients. It now seeks to leverage the international reach of its Swiss exchange owner.

What we are considering is that of the total volume that LCH has, more or less between 25 to 30, will be…