Last week when the CME Group announced it would be shutting down 17 open outcry futures trading pits in Chicago and three pits in New York by July 2, it was almost anticlimactic. Most participants in the industry knew that the outcry era was on its way out a long time ago. Some even correctly… Read More >>
CME to Cut 60 Jobs as Most Outcry Trading to End
The CME Group will be eliminating 60 positions as it shuts down trading pits in Chicago and New York by July 2, 2015, effectively ending most of its open outcry futures trading, say officials at the exchange trading and clearing company. “Sixty positions will be eliminated, and those are predominantly in floor operations areas,” says… Read More >>
How Much Skin Should You Put in the CCP Game?
Two new high-profile contributions to the debate over how to handle central counterparty (CCP) clearinghouse default risks reveal how far apart CCPs and their members remain on the issue of how much money each side should be responsible for, underscoring the fact that the debate is likely to remain open for some time. This week white paper were released… Read More >>
BGC Offers GFI Stockholders $6.10 per Share
Interdealer broker BGC Partners has upped the ante yet again in its quest to acquire rival GFI Group, raising its all-cash tender offer to $6.10 per GFI share and offering an additional ten cents per share on top of that if GFI’s management countersigns the BGC offer by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The… Read More >>
CME Group Launches Education Platform
CME Group, the multi-exchange derivatives marketplace, reports that it has the launched the Futures Institute, an online platform for futures education, trading simulation and market research. “The Futures Institute offers a blend of live instruction, interactive training modules, market research and training,” CME Group says in a statement. “The Futures Institute works with partners across… Read More >>
CME Group Sweetens Bid for GFI
Derivatives market operator CME Group has revised its months-old bid to purchase interdealer broker GFI Group, raising its offered price on GFI shares to $5.25 a share from $4.55, in effect matching an earlier offer for GFI by rival interdealer broker BGC Partners. CME Group first revealed its $4.55 per share offer in July, which… Read More >>
CFTC Orders Rule Reviews for DCMs
The CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight (DMO) has issued three separate rule enforcement reviews impacting major Designated Contract Markets (DCM) serving as trading venues, officials say. The DMO’s rule enforcement reviews will impact the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) audit trail program, the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and Commodity… Read More >>
GFI SEF to Support USD MAC Swaps
Interdealer broker GFI Group reports that it has launched US dollar (USD) market agreed coupon (MAC) swaps on its swap execution facility (SEF). Live tradable prices for these contracts are available in a central limit order book (CLOB) on RatesMatch, GFI’s electronic trading platform for interest rates, according to the company, which adds that the… Read More >>
BNY and CME Group Join Forces for Hedging
Custodian bank BNY Mellon and derivatives exchange company CME Group have partnered to provide a new interest rate hedging tool, the U.S. Tri-Party Repo Indices, officials say. BNY Mellon’s role in the collaboration will be to prepare and provide daily U.S. tri-party repo indices that reflect overnight interest rates on tri-party repo transactions collateralized by… Read More >>
RJO Turns 100
Chicago-based R.J. O’Brien & Associates (RJO), the venerable futures brokerage and clearing firm, has celebrated its centenary birthday. It is the “oldest and largest independent” brokerage and clearing firm in the U.S., the company reports. The 100-year milestone, recognizing RJO as the Chicago exchange’s “last surviving founding member firm,” was marked by an award ceremony… Read More >>