The London Stock Exchange Group’s new interest rate derivatives platform, CurveGlobal, has gone live with the backing of seven liquidity providers.
CurveGlobal, run by Morgan Stanley’s former head of European OTC clearing, is bidding to disrupt the entrenched interest rate futures market dominated by Eurex and ICE with lower trading fees and no market data chargers.
Curve is backed by seven major dealing banks, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Societe Generale.
It is also connected to four major independent service providers (ISVs) such as Object Trading, Stellar Trading Systems, and Fidessa.
“From launch today, we start with a proven exchange and clearing architecture, as well as access to a deep pool of open risk, totalling over $100 billion in initial margin. We are not starting from scratch,” says CurveGlobal CEO Andrew Ross.
“We aim to create a new future for derivatives trading and clearing. We have a mandate to innovate and an unrivalled appetite to work with and for customers. While today is an exciting moment, it is just the beginning. We will be announcing new contracts and products but most importantly, listening and responding to the market with new innovations.”
Curve will begin listing short-term futures contracts in short sterling and Euribor, and long-term interest rate futures products in Bund, Bobl and Schatz.
“The products CurveGlobal offers and its connectivity to LCH mean that market participants stand to realise significant efficiencies through Portfolio Margining,” adds Kostas Pantazopoulos, global head of rates trading at Goldman Sachs.
For the full interview with CurveGlobal’s Andrew Ross, click here.