Societe Generale Prime Services has acquired a minority stake in the swap futures trading venue GMEX.
Formerly Newedge, Societe Generale Prime Services becomes the second company to invest in GMEX after German exchange operator Deutsche Börse took a minority stake last year.
GMEX’s flagship product is a swap future which tracks the interest rate exposure at each point on the yield curve by removing the expiry date and marking the contract to market against GMEX’s own Constant Maturity Index on a daily basis.
Swap futures have emerged as viable alternatives to OTC interest rate swaps which have become increasingly costly to trade due to global central clearing mandates.
Along with its swap futures offering, set to launch in the first half of 2015, GMEX also focuses on emerging markets exchange business partnerships enabled by multi-asset trading technology.
“The GMEX Group offers genuinely new ways to trade Interest Rates via their unique and versatile Constant Maturity Futures product,” said David Escoffier, deputy head of global markets for Societe Generale corporate & investment banking and CEO at Newedge.
“That's exciting for our clients as they adapt to the new environment, for our industry, and for us as part of this venture. Acquiring a minority share reflects our commitment to driving innovation in the derivative markets, and we will continue to look positively at other similar initiatives based on innovation, quality and focused on delivery value to our clients."
Hirander Misra, CEO and co-founder of GMEX, recently told theTRADEnews.com that the products have been receiving “very strong support from the trading community particularly the buy-side” as the venue gears up for launch.