CurveGlobal completes second funding round with bank customers

• £20 million raised in platform’s latest funding round
• Demonstrates customer commitment to CurveGlobal
• Secures platform’s long-term growth and product development, supporting modernisation of the futures market
• Open access model contributes to over 300% rise in open interest on platform in last 12 months

CurveGlobal, the interest rate derivatives platform, announces that it has secured an additional £20 million in financing from existing bank shareholders*, as well as Cboe and LSEG. The funding will support further expansion of CurveGlobal’s product offering, which includes the upcoming launch of a SONIA futures contract.

The momentum behind CurveGlobal reflects a growing appetite for more capital-efficient and open alternatives to existing derivatives trading services. CurveGlobal addresses several of the biggest customer concerns, including the inability to have a choice of where to clear (and optimise) trades, as well as the increasing costs associated with market data.

CurveGlobal is proving itself to be a highly efficient differentiator in the exchange traded derivatives space; offering genuine choice and liquidity to the market. Since launch, 2,209,252 million lots have been traded and open interest currently stands at circa 176,579. Over 10% of volume has come in the last 29 trading days, demonstrating the growing momentum behind the platform.

Significantly, in the context of Best Execution rules under MiFID II, CurveGlobal products listed on LSEDM continue to be best price or tied the majority of the time, while offering lower transaction fees, free market data, potential margin savings and the ability to trade fractional blocks for increased price granularity. CurveGlobal also offers customers access to a global, multi-currency liquidity pool through LCH, as well as portfolio margining through LCH Spider to maximise margin offsets. This will be extended in 2018 to enable participants to clear and cross-margin all short and long-term EUR and GBP contracts.

Andy Ross, Chief Executive, CurveGlobal said:
“We’ve been working in partnership with customers to improve choice and drive much-needed competition in the futures markets. This has a direct impact on the capital and resource consumption of our stakeholders, delivering lower costs and best execution under MiFID II.  We’re pleased with the support we’ve seen to date and it’s clear that this ‘Open Access’ and client-first service approach is resonating in the marketplace. The strong interest in this funding round is a clear example of how well this strategy has been received, and CurveGlobal remains open for any additional partners who are looking to collaborate in this manner”. 

David Warren, Interim Group Chief Executive Officer and Group Chief Financial Officer, London Stock Exchange Group:
“CurveGlobal is building a firm foundation in the marketplace offering choice and tangible cost benefits for customers. This successful second funding round will support further expansion of CurveGlobal’s offering as it continues to grow its market share, based on our shared principles of Open Access and customer partnership”.

Mark Hemsley, President, Europe, Cboe Global Markets, and CurveGlobal board member:
“The successful closing of this second round of funding for CurveGlobal is a testament to the value investors see in the platform, which is providing a credible and innovative interest rate offering. Now is an opportune time for a new global interest rate marketplace and CurveGlobal represents a compelling trading alternative that offers new interest rate products, increased trading efficiencies and reduced transaction costs”.

*Major dealer banks: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Société Générale

Contacts

Lucie Holloway
+44 (0)20 7797 1222
newsroom@lseg.com