February 04, 2019

CurveGlobal January volumes up 3.5x year-on-year

  • Average daily trading volume of 30,000 lots in January 2019
  • Record day saw 48,000 lots traded on 16 January
  • Record Open Interest of 441,608 lots on 31 January
  • January volumes see 3.5x year-on-year increase, one year on from MiFID II implementation
  • Continued momentum reflects growing demand for more competitive futures markets

CurveGlobal, the futures platform for Rates derivatives listed on LSEDM, has experienced year-on-year growth of more than 350% in average daily trading volume and 272% in open interest in January. The surge in activity has been building for several months, as participants look for more efficient and progressive alternatives to existing futures platforms.

As the pioneer of innovative contracts, such as the SONIA three-month futures and the Inter-Commodity Spread, CurveGlobal has been playing a leading role in helping the market transition to new benchmark rates, a monetary policy priority for many governments. In addition, its platform enhancements, such as half-tick spreads and fractional block trading are appealing to buy-side firms seeking better quality execution and lower transaction and data costs.

Andy Ross, CEO of CurveGlobal said:
“Increased volumes are welcome, but the underlying trend signifies much more. The trading landscape is shifting with MiFID II, opening up a more competitive futures market. This is good news for all participants, as it will introduce an era of better execution, lower prices and more innovative solutions across the industry.

“Fractional block trading allows participants to agree a price between the bid and offer, and then apportion the contracts between the bid and offer prices to achieve this result. Half-point spreads can potentially create the opportunity for greater liquidity by reducing the cost of entering and exiting a trading position.”

Since April 2018, CurveGlobal has introduced:

  • Reduction from one-tick to half-tick increments in the CurveGlobal® Three month Sterling Futures contract
  • CurveGlobal® Three month SONIA Futures contract (launched with half-tick pricing increments)
  • ICS functionality between the CurveGlobal® Three month SONIA and Three month Sterling Futures contracts
  • Reduction in tick size for CurveGlobal government bond futures
  • Cross-margining of government bond futures against cleared swaps at LCH
  • Reduction in trading fees on CurveGlobal Three month SONIA Futures

CurveGlobal is an interest rate derivatives venture between London Stock Exchange Group, and a number of leading dealer banks: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Société Générale, together with the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

About LSEG

LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) is a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider, playing a vital social and economic role in the world’s financial system.

With our open approach, trusted expertise and global scale, we enable the sustainable growth and stability of our customers and their communities. We are dedicated partners with extensive experience, deep knowledge and a worldwide presence in data and analytics; indices; capital formation; and trade execution, clearing and risk management across multiple asset classes. 

LSEG is headquartered in the United Kingdom, with significant operations in 70 countries across EMEA, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. We employ 23,000 people globally, more than half located in Asia Pacific. LSEG’s ticker symbol is LSEG.

Contacts

Christopher Loscher
+44 (0)20 7797 1222