Bain Capital takes $66M stake in RQD Clearing amid options-market growth

The investment is part of a $74 million funding round to expand the clearing broker across North America, Asia and the Middle East.

Bain Capital is taking a stake in RQD Clearing as new capital enters the stock and options clearing market.

RQD raised $74 million, including $66 million from Bain Capital’s Tech Opportunities team. Nyca Partners and ABN AMRO’s clearing bank provided the rest, according to a company spokesman.

The US options market grew 25% from a year earlier to an average of 70 million contracts a day in July. Industry executives have warned that clearing capacity could become concentrated as trading volumes increase.

RQD’s clients include financial institutions and investment advisers. The firm has cleared half a billion stock transactions this year, representing more than 2.4% of liquid US equities volume, and about 65 million options contracts, or roughly 0.6% of total options flow.

The funding will support expansion in North America, Asia and the Middle East, including growth in digital assets and asset tokenization.

ABN AMRO’s investment is notable because the bank is already one of the largest incumbents in options clearing, alongside Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. Citadel Securities recently began clearing its own options trades, while Wells Fargo is entering the market.

The deal follows Alpaca’s $435 million debt and equity raise, EDX Markets’ $76 million funding round and Ripple Prime’s $275 million financing.

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