Hello and welcome to the latest CurveGlobal newsletter!

I hope you all managed to take some time away from your screens to recharge your batteries. As you know, we’re over six months into the COVID lockdown and while we clearly have much work to do, not least in management of fear, it’s good to see that the worst projections have not been realised.

Let me be frank – COVID has not been helpful to CurveGlobal. If you’re working from home, you’re not necessarily looking at the second screen; and if you want something done, saving a few tenths of a tick in a fast-moving market isn’t that important – but getting it filled is. So we saw volumes and some OI fall. But as a very poor golfer I'm used to having to “play the ball as it lies”, dealing with the situation in front of you. We’re all OK with that because we believe that we are providing unique benefits to the marketplace.

So how are we helping clients during this time? This is the question our team, our supporters, board and partners here at LSEG focus on most – and with good reason. We believe that if we do the right thing for clients, we’ll be best positioned to make the difference to the futures market that it deserves. So here are some of the benefits we deliver – that legacy exchanges don’t.

CurveGlobal Pays It Back

• Fee holiday. That’s right. For at least the next 12 months, we’re not charging execution fees; and for at least six months, there are no clearing fees. And zero fees for market data.
• Adaptive pricing. We’re continuing to work with a number of brokers who can offer you intra-tick pricing – what we call adaptive pricing. In a market of low volatility and flat curves, free execution at a better price is certainly capturing attention!
• Double-down. We’ve doubled the notional of short sterling from 500K to 1mm. This increases the tick increment to GBP12.50. We’re going to run both products side by side and then switch people seamlessly in early 2021 to the double notional.
• Spread trades. Our SONIA and LIBOR spread trades are seeing plenty of interest, unsurprising due to the likely shift from LIBOR next year. Hear more about this in our upcoming “LIBOR Week” – more details below.

We’re making these moves because we believe that market participants deserve to be treated fairly – and that only happens in a competitive environment. By trading with CurveGlobal, you’re not just getting better performance, you’re keeping dominant exchanges on their toes.

So, we’re ready to go! Are you? We’ve got a huge amount of infrastructure built, no cost to trade and better pricing available. And by infrastructure, I mean brokers connected, clearing banks and non-banks FCMs, ISVs – all ready to go. These changes are designed to build and deliver competition to the market and offer you some real and genuine choice.  

Stay safe, wash your hands, and start trading CurveGlobal futures!

Best,
Andy
aross@curveglobal.com

LIBOR Transition Readiness Survey

Ahead of the LIBOR end-date, CurveGlobal has commissioned a report on the transition from the legacy benchmark (and other IBORs) to alternative risk-free reference rates (RFRs).

To compile the report, CurveGlobal has commissioned Acuiti to conduct an industry-wide survey to gain insights into the challenges facing market participants, latest trends, current debates and other topics relating to the transition. The survey should only take five minutes to complete and all responses will remain anonymous. Survey respondents will receive a copy of the final report.

Thank you in advance for taking part.

Trade Concept

CurveGlobal to launch a series of initiatives during October

By Ian Murphy

October Initiatives
Here at CurveGlobal we are launching a series of enhancements and initiatives next month for the benefit of market participants. The initiatives will extend the easy, low-cost access to the market and enhance best execution, with execution via DMA and voice brokers. All CurveGlobal products are cleared at LCH, with clearing services offered by bank and non-bank GCMs and FCMs.

Zero Fees

• No exchange fees for trading from 1 October 2020 until 30 September 2021
• No clearing fees from 1 October 2020 until 31 March 2021*
• No fee surcharges for wholesale orders, blocks and basis or delayed block publication
• No market data costs

*Subject to regulatory approval

Double Notional Sterling Product Launch

• Double Notional Sterling Products go live on 19 October
• New 3 month contracts with notional size of £1,000,000 (min tick/value 0.005/£12.50)
• New 1 month SONIA contract with notional size £3,000,000 (min tick/value 0.005/£12.50)
• New inter commodity spreads (ICS) (min tick/value 0.0001/£2.50)
• New products are available for portfolio margining at LCH, combining positions in OTC and listed products
• Increasing choice and liquidity while reducing fees, margin and capital costs offers benefits to market participants
• New products will run side by side with existing Sterling products
• Existing Sterling products will switch seamlessly to the Double Notional in early 2021

The “SONIA” mark is used under licence from the Bank of England (the benchmark administrator of SONIA), and the use of such mark does not imply or express any approval or endorsement by the Bank of England. “Bank of England” and “SONIA” are registered trademarks of the Bank of England.

Double Notional Sterling Product Trading Strategies

• Along with the go-live on 19 October, the full set of trading strategies will be available: calendar, butterfly, butterfly differential** and packs, together with the ICS
• All strategies are exchange-supported, with no legging risk
• Block trading is available and providing minimum block thresholds are met for each leg then fractional pricing can be achieved

**CurveGlobal Newsletter July 2020

Adaptive Price Block Trade Enhancement

• Block Trade Reporting at a single trade price with 0.0001 price tick granularity launches on 19 October
• This enhancement is available for the new Double Notional products and existing Euribor futures
• Fractional Priced Blocks provided by brokers, banks and liquidity providers
• No fee surcharge for Block Trades on CurveGlobal
• Compliant with CGM exchange rules, MiFID II and best execution

CurveGlobal Markets document library

Monthly Volumes and Open Interest

LIBOR Transition Week (12-16 October 2020)

CurveGlobal is collaborating with London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) on a “LIBOR transition week”. We will be participating alongside LCH, FTSE Russell and Primary Markets in daily panel discussions covering LIBOR thematic topics across LSEG. Each day, a business unit will host a panel of experts on the effects of the LIBOR transition on businesses. Please see the initial agenda below. Registration details to follow.

The end of LIBOR – the timelines, the challenges and what comes next
Monday, 12 October at 16.30-17.15 BST

New benchmarks and the future shape of swaps markets
Tuesday, 13 October at 16.30-17.15 BST 

Futures trading risks and opportunities in a post-LIBOR world
Wednesday, 14 October at 16.30-17.15 BST 

From LIBOR to SONIA – the role of term rates
Thursday, 15 October at 16.30-17.15 BST

LIBOR – from an issuance perspective
Friday, 16 October at 16.30-17.15 BST

Press Articles of Note (includes subscription content)

LIBOR’S END NEARS
BLOOMBERG.COM

STERLING SWAP TRADERS BRACE FOR NEW SONIA SWITCH DEADLINE
RISK.NET

AUGUST TRADING VOLUMES IN EUROPE PLUMMET IN QUIETEST MONTH OF MIFID II ERA
THETRADE.COM 

UK BANKS’ RATE SWAPS BOOKS CONTINUED TO GROW IN Q2
RISK QUANTUM

To find out more about CurveGlobal or to offer suggestions on improving this newsletter, contact us at +44 20 7797 1055 or info@curveglobal.com.