Deutsche Börse Group has received regulatory clearance for its futures exchange Eurex to launch a clearing house in Singapore with an eye to go live in 2016.
Eurex Clearing Asia will clear certain European benchmark derivatives listed at German-based Eurex Exchange to begin with, all of which are traded during Asian market hours.
The clearing house then aims to expand its products to include listed derivatives based on Asian underlying assets.
Asia has been pinpointed by Western exchanges for some years now as the most lucrative area for growth, with Eurex’s European rival Intercontinental Exchange also gearing up to launch a central counterparty (CCPs) and exchange in Singapore.
The two CCPs will join the Singapore Exchange in the growing clearing space in the country.
“This is a further important milestone in the Asian growth strategy of Deutsche Börse Group. Eurex Clearing Asia will generate new and interesting business opportunities for our customers, and we are becoming an integral part of the financial center of Singapore,” said Andreas Preuss, deputy CEO of Deutsche Börse AG and CEO of Eurex.
“We aim to contribute to its further development and internationalisation and look forward to cooperating with MAS and our business partners.”
Eurex has previously directed its growth in Asia through cross-listing and co-operation agreements with exchanges in the region. These include the Taiwan Futures Exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange and Korea Exchange.
Establishing its own clearing house represents a change of direction from Eurex, however as the exchange told theTRADEnews.com in Q4 last year, the focus has been on Asia for some time now.
“The focus of many exchanges has been Europe,” said Eric Müller, member of the executive board at Eurex Clearing, in October last year, pointing to the organic growth of CME and ICE’s acquisition of NYSE Euronext. “For us now is the opportune time to focus efforts on growth in Asia.”