New for Traders: HKEx to open new market data hub

Financials

• Eurex plans to launch the Mid-Term Euro-OAT Future, which will be based on notional medium-term bonds issued by France.
• HSBC and Barclays agreed to become market makers of the London Stock Exchange’s International Board, which was created through a cross-quotation agreement with Singapore Exchange that allows constituents of the STI 30 and MSCI Singapore Free Indices to be traded in London, cleared at LCH.Clearnet and settled in Singapore dollars.

• CME plans to migrate Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT) open outcry trading to CME facilities on July 1. The integration with CME Clearing will ideally provide cross-margining and other capital efficiencies for KCBT customers.
• TriOptima has launched triQuantify, a counterparty credit risk analytics service for over-the-counter derivatives, which is powered by Global valuation Ltd. software. TriOptima intends to integrate the new service with triResolve, its counterparty exposure management service.

Technology

• London Data Exchange launched its Perseus Telecom global exchange platform, offering connectivity to more than 50 global markets from North London.
• Hong Kong Exchange will open a new market data hub in mainland China. The hub, known as the Orion Market Data Platform, will offer a suite of low-latency market data product feeds with content, market depth and bandwidth options.
• Nasdaq OMX’s Sentinel over-the-counter clearing and risk management solution will power Poland’s leading securities clearing house and central counterparty, KDPW_CCP.

 Regulation

• The U.K.’s Financial Services Authority gave CME permission to clear interest rate swaps through its London clearinghouse, which it will begin in April.

• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved LCH.Clearnet as a derivatives clearing organization, allowing the clearing house to clear futures contracts, commodity options, options on futures contracts and swaps on interest rates and FX.

• The Securities and Exchange Commission denied NASDAQ’s proposal to offer algorithmic trading, saying that the trading would compete unfairly with brokers’ algorithms.

Commodities

• On Feb. 25, the European Energy Exchange will begin clearing Scandinavian power futures, Czech and Slovak power and two-euro denominated coal index futures.
• NYSE Euronext reportedly is seeking to spin off its Matif wheat futures market in Europe in order to obtain regulatory approval for its takeover by IntercontinentalExchange.

• Beginning in 2014, Nasdaq OMX plans to offer physical and financial Dutch gas contracts and European coal contracts.
• ISE and IndexIQ entered into a partnership agreement to promote new exchange-traded products focused on physical commodities.

Options

• TD Ameritrade introduced a new “Strategy Roller” feature to its thinkorswim trading platform. The tool is designed to allow retail traders to roll their existing option positions automatically based upon their own user-defined settings.
• CME will offer palladium and platinum options on its Globex trading platform starting on Feb. 24.

Forex

• Guggenheim Investments launched CurrencyShares Singapore Dollar Trust, the first Singapore dollar exchange-traded product (ETP). The ETP is designed to give investors a cost-effective way to gain exposure to the Singapore dollar.

• Nasdaq has entered into a partnership with Deutsche Bank and Imarex FS, designed to offer market participants access to an integrated trading and clearing service to FX products. Clients of the Nasdaq OMX’s Norwegian clearing house, NOS, will be able to trade FX products through Deutsche Bank’s FX trading platform.