Solutions
The CBOE Futures Exchange plans to introduce trading in its first options on a futures contract – Weekly options on VIX futures – on 28 September, subject to regulatory approval.
All key pieces of the VIX product suite will now be available on CBOE’s electronic technology platform, CBOEdirect: cash-settled CBOE Volatility Index options, VIX futures, options on volatility-related exchange traded notes and, later this month, Weekly options on VIX futures.
"The addition of Weekly options on VIX futures, which incorporates a version of the popular ‘Weeklys’ expirations on security options, brings an added dimension to CBOE’s suite of volatility products.
HedgeServ, a fund administrator for the alternative investment industry, has upgraded its client base to the latest version of SunGard’s Front Arena.
A multi-asset solution providing trade capture, real-time P&L and desk-level risk, Front Arena helps hedge funds, traditional asset managers and other alternative investment managers identify risk and exposure.
With offices in New York, Dublin and the Cayman Islands, HedgeServ has been extending Front Arena’s portfolio management and risk capabilities to its client base since early 2009.
With the latest upgrade to Front Arena, HedgeServ and its clients will have access to enhanced functionality for pricing commodities and FX
NYSE Euronext plans to launch NYSE Blue, a joint venture that will focus exclusively on environmental and sustainable energy markets.
NYSE Blue will include NYSE Euronext’s existing investment in BlueNext, a spot market in carbon credits, and APX, a provider of regulatory infrastructure and services for the environmental and sustainable energy markets.
NYSE Euronext will be a majority owner of NYSE Blue and will consolidate its results.
Shareholders of APX, which include Goldman Sachs, MissionPoint Capital Partners, and Onset Ventures, will take a minority stake in NYSE Blue in return for their shares in APX.
Subject to customary closing
Chi-X Europe, the pan-European stock exchange, has started trading international depositary receipts.
The new market segment covers 50 stocks from some 12 countries, including Eastern and Southern European states such as Russia and Cyprus, as well as stocks from Asian countries such as India and South Korea.
International depositary receipts form Chi-X Europe’s 16th market segment. The exchange already offers trading in over 1,200 of the most liquid stocks from 15 European countries, plus exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded commodities.
There will be continuous trading in the IDR securities from 08.15 to 15.30 UK time. IDR securities will be cleared
BGC Partners, an intermediary to the wholesale financial markets, has completed its first fully electronic Euro interest rate swap transactions over its hybrid voice and electronic execution platform, BGC Trader IRS, which went live on 1 September.
BGC Trader IRS is an extension of BGC’s hybrid technology platform, which has already been deployed and used in over 50 BGC products across credit, rates, foreign exchange, equities and commodities.
The BGC Trader IRS platform incorporates the Volume Match tool, an auction-style functionality which enables customers to transact a wide range of products fully electronically.
Elie El Hayek, managing director, global head
Crescent Financial Partners has purchased a minority stake in IT Trading’s proprietary quantitative trading software for USD3.2m.
The software, which has been under development for nearly a decade, employs a statistical arbitrage trading model.
“In the finance world, arbitrage is commonly known as the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets,” said John Indelicato and Anthony Tuozzo, creators of the software. “Essentially what our software does is automates this process through the use of advanced sophisticated algorithms.”
Russell Armstrong, chief executive and managing director of Crescent Financial Partners adds: “We believe this algorithm is
Trading in steel futures on the London Metal Exchange hit another record level in August, with 24,853 lots traded, equivalent to more than 1.6 million tonnes of material.
August was the first full month of trading following the merger of the LME’s regional steel contracts, known as the Mediterranean and Far East contracts.
The exchange has registered six consecutive months of record volumes in steel trading since March.
On 17 August, the LME added Chicago and Detroit to New Orleans as points of good delivery in the US for LME-registered steel billet, with effect from 16 November. Having
At the derivatives markets of Eurex an average daily volume of 7.8 million contracts was traded in August, down from 9.1 million in August 2009.
Of those, 5.4 million contracts were traded at Eurex (August 2009: 5.4 million) and 2.4 million contracts were traded at the International Securities Exchange (August 2009: 3.7 million).
In total, 171.2 million contracts were traded on both exchanges compared with 191.5 million contracts in August 2009.
At Eurex, the equity index derivatives segment was the most active segment, totalling 55.5 million contracts, compared with 55.7 million contracts in August 2009.
Futures on the Euro
RS Platou Markets, the investment banking arm of RS Platou Group, has selected Fidessa group’s Software as a Service sell-side trading platform.
The Oslo-based brokerage firm will be using Fidessa to underpin its global trading operations including connectivity to a number of multilateral trading facilities.
Fidessa’s smart order routing capabilities were a significant factor in RS Platou’s decision, as was the brokerage’s move into algorithmic trading which is now supported by Fidessa’s fully integrated algorithmic trading engine, BlueBox.
Preben Sohlberg and Magnus Halvorsen, co-heads of equity sales at RS Platou, said: "After thorough investigation, RS Platou Markets decided to sign
NYSE Euronext’s US data centre in Mahwah, New Jersey, has completed the migration of more than 4,500 equities issues listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NYSE Amex.
With the NYSE and NYSE Amex equities primary matching engines now inside the new data centre, NYSE Euronext will begin the migration of its other markets as well as NYSE Technologies’ product portfolio that includes co-location services, direct data feeds, trading infrastructure on-demand, SuperFeed and its Risk Management Gateway service.
“The successful move of NYSE and NYSE Amex listed issues into our US data centre is truly a technological and operational
