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05 Oct 2018

Eurex | Eurex Clearing

Shimon Sebban, OTCex: “Eurex is becoming an Asian exchange”

A broker’s opinion on Eurex’ plan to extend its trading hours in Asia

Eurex runs global markets and is continually enhancing its services. As of December 2018, we will extend our trading hours in the Asian time zones to strengthen the bridge between Asia, Europe and the US. We discussed this subject with Shimon Sebban, Equity Derivatives Broker at OTCex.

European benchmarks for the Asian markets

Benchmark products like DAX® Futures, Mini-DAX® Futures, EURO STOXX 50® Index Futures, MSCI Futures contract and Interest Rate Futures offer access to European markets and are the cornerstone when it comes to managing interest rate risk and diversifying portfolios.

MSCI index derivatives - exposure to Asia

Close to 60 percent of our MSCI product suite is related to the Asian-Pacific time zone, and is growing rapidly. The extension of trading hours provides even more opportunities for brokers and traders.

OTCex is not only one of the leading companies for inter-dealer brokerage services, it was also one of the first to trade MSCI worldwide and quickly became the clear leader on the then swap-only OTC market. We spoke to Shimon about his take on opportunities for the Asian markets.

Eurex is expanding its trading hours – what’s in it for you and your clients?

The great news is that we will be able to cross and trade actively on the Eurex market during Asian trading hours. That will help us with the “live” business since more and more clients are asking for live quotes versus close. They want to trade at the live price and for the futures to be crossed at the time of the trade. So this is a good thing for market makers, banks and other players.

Could you explain more?

The bulk of our business is made-up of trades on futures versus close. They are effectively crossed on Eurex the following day, once we know the official close. Going forward, this can be handled early morning in Asia. This gives a good signal to the market. It shows that Eurex is also becoming an “Asian” exchange. For the clients this means that Eurex is psychologically more close to them.

Are there any strategic adjustments you will make?

We do not need to make many adjustments due to the fact, that we already have crossing facilities based in Europe. Just recently, we hired a new Middle Office and can now rely on two teams, one in London and the other Hong Kong.

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