Its membership of over 180 firms includes institutional investors, asset managers, custodial banks, prime brokers and service providers.

ISLA aims to support the development of a safe and efficient framework for the industry, by playing a role in promoting market best practices and processes.

At the end of the transaction the lender and the borrower return their respective securities/collateral to one another According to the association, securities Lending can makes markets safer by reducing operational risk through settlement fails.

Until the start of 2009, securities lending was only an over-the-counter market, so the size of this industry was difficult to estimate accurately.

According to the industry group ISLA, in the year 2007 the balance of securities on loan globally exceeded £1 trillion.