EXCHANGE NEWSWIRE, 6 May 2011
CME launched its London-based clearing house, CME Clearing Europe, which will start with clearing in 153 OTC commodity contracts such as WTI and Brent crude swaps, freight forwards and rapeseed oil swaps. CEO of CME Clearing Europe Andrew Lamb said “there’s no doubt that we are a head-to-head alternative to ICE Clear Europe. But the absolute intention is to expand that initial range into other areas”. Lamb also expressed openness to clearing for third-party exchanges.
SGX will launch trading in rubber futures, which include SICOM TSR 20 and SICOM RSS 3 rubber futures, on May 16 with the migration of SICOM rubber contracts onto the SGX trading platform. The futures will also be cleared by SGX AsiaClear.
TMX’s Montreal Exchange launched T&P/TSX 60 Index mini-futures (SXM), which represents a quarter of the value of current S&P/TSX 60 Index standard futures (SXF). The SXM is aimed at traders preferring a lower cost of trading, hedge funds who prefer lower margin requirements, cross-market arbitrageurs, and retail investors who wish to speculate on the Canadian equity marketplace.
LME will open an access point to its electronic platform, LMEselect, at Interxion’s London-based data center. Interxion’s clients will not e able to benefit from the low-latency access to LME, as well as get access to a range of other liquidity venues.
Cleartrade Exchange stated that it will not join LME in creating an integrated exchange which encompasses trading and clearing. CEO of Cleartrade Richard Baker he does not see the “vertical silo” model bringing “benefit for the trading principals”, and that the main obstruction in the market was clearing houses not opening up to each other to allow interoperability. Baker also said that “if the clearing houses found a way to interconnect, the argument for the vertical silo model would soon fall away.”
RTS Forts recorded a high in after-hours trading volume of R$57,735m (US$2,117m) on May 5. A total of 1,251,200 contracts in RUB/USD FX futures worth R$34,303m (US$1,253m).
Omega ATS abolished its monthly C$350 subscriber fee, and increased the number of free access ports to 10 per month for all subscribers from one a month previously. Omega also introduced a new pricing schedule for the TSX Venture exchange. No fee will be charged for all fixed income and listed debenture passive order transactions with the exception of shares listed on the TSXV. Similarly, no fee will be charged for ordered placed in Omega ATS that are not executed nor for internal crosses.
US Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke warned regulators to avoid “stifling reasonable risk-taking and innovation in financial markets, as these factors play an important role in fostering broader productivity gains, economic growth and job creation”.
CFTC’s new enforcement chief David Meister said he has adopted an “aggressive, quick, and efficient” stance towards illegal activity in the derivatives markets, and he will use his “bigger arsenal of weapons” to crack down on such activity. Meister also said CFTC should “be investigating more cutting edge, high-impact cases”.
CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia said that costs for commercial end-users using swaps to hedge business risk will increase as a result of new regulations which have too broad a definition of swap dealers. O’Malia also said that “the market needs to know when they will be expected to implement the rules so appropriate investments, staffing and reorganization decisions can be made.”
Provided By: Equity Research Desk, www.erdesk.com
To view our exchange reports and articles on your PDA or mobile device, click here.
-----
About FMX: FMX Connect is an information, data, and analytics portal for Commodities. The portal provides an all-in-one package including essential market data, independent third party research, industry news, and commodity trading tools. FMX Connect provides efficient, effective, and thorough data that bridges all aspects of commodities onto one screen. The Result; A user friendly application for hedge fund traders, OTC brokers, individual investors, and industry participants.
-----
Note: The information presented, while from sources generally believed to be reliable, is not guaranteed and may not be complete. FMX | Connect makes no representations or warranties regarding the correctness of any opinions or information. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. Nothing in this report should be construed as a representation to buy or sell shares, futures or options, which contain considerable risks. For internal client distribution only. Any reproduction, re-transmission, or distribution of this report without permission is prohibited. Media correspondents or reporters may not quote any one page or section in its entirety and must attribute all quotes, ideas or concepts herein. Copyright FMX | Connect, ©2009-2010. All rights reserved.