ELX picks clearinghouse
The Electronic Liquidity Exchange (ELX), a new futures exchange formed by several investment banks, along with Getco and Peak 6, signed an agreement with the Options Clearing Corporation to provide clearing and delivery services on Dec. 9.
“The OCC offers the right capabilities to support ELX’s planned launch of electronic trading in U.S. interest rate futures, plus the ability to accommodate our growth plans,” said ELX CEO Neal Wolkoff in a statement. Shortly after this announcement, ELX filed an application with the CFTC to become a designated contract market.
BoA/Merrill deal approved
The Federal Reserve Bank has approved Bank of America’s (BoA) purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. BoA remains the largest depository organization in the United States, with $2.7 trillion in total consolidated assets and control of $882 billion in deposits, which is 11.9% of depository assets in the United States.
Nymex amends price limits
On Dec. 1, Nymex put into affect amendments to its special price fluctuation limits to conform to other CME Group market practices. The amendments include limiting a triggering event, which would dictate a five-minute market halt to the first nine contract months available for trading, versus the entire curve.
Agora-X petitions CFTC again
On Nov. 17, Agora-X, which is developing an institutional electronic communications network for OTC commodities, petitioned the CFTC for permission to clear trades in agricultural swap contracts negotiated on its platform, seeking an exemption under Section 4(c) of the Commodity Exchange Act. Similar petitions on this issue already have been filed by CME Group and ICE.
Agora-X also petitioned the agency to allow for clearing for OTC grain contracts, asking to amend a rule that prevents the clearing of agricultural swaps in the absence of applicant-specific CFTC permission. Agora-X plans to launch its electronic platform before January 2009.
NYSE/Liquidnet
NYSE Arca has partnered with Liquidnet, giving Liquidnet members access to NYSE Arca. Liquidnet is an electronic marketplace that aggregates fragmented market liquidity in 29 equity markets across five continents.
