CME wants to double its share of forex trades with new exchange
EXCHANGES giant CME Group hopes to channel another $160bn (£95.6bn) per day of currency trades through its marketplaces when it sets up a new European unit this month.
CME Europe opens on 27 April and will initially offer futures contracts in 30 currency pairs as well as energy-related products like biofuels.
Currently around three per cent of currency trades are transacted in the futures market, largely in CME’s US exchanges.
However, around 60 per cent of trades are carried out in London.
As a result it wants to take some of those over the counter trades in Europe onto its exchange.
CME Europe aims to double its global market share to six per cent – meaning it would process around $320bn per day, as the sector sees turnover of more than $5.3 trillion per day.
CME hopes it will be able to attract traders to the platform with lower fees on standardised products, before expanding into a wider range of instruments.
“We are talking to clients about what they want, where there is demand for new products,” said CME’s William Knottenbelt.
“They could be futures in energy, interest rates and metals.”