The Markets in Financial Instruments and amending Regulation (MiFIR) released on October 20, 2011 looks to introduce competition in the European derivatives space through open access to central counterparties (CCPs) and trading venues, and fair licensing of and access to benchmarks. These changes came as a shock to certain major dominant players in the derivatives market, but were welcomed by those looking to enter the derivatives markets. After all, derivatives margins are a lot higher than those in equities. Since the launch of derivatives products on the Turquoise platform, Turquoise’s Adrian Farnham has been particularly vocal on this space. He … Continue Reading →

Europe has spent the last 10 years working toward a single European marketplace. Does the news of an NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse merger mean that Europe is fundamentally closer to such a goal? The new entity would command nearly 30% of European trading, but would have a significant presence in the Euronext and German markets only — the U.K., Italian, Spanish, Swiss, and Nordic markets would remain fragmented between their incumbent exchanges and multilateral trading facilities (MTFs). The only venues that have really come close to creating a single, pan-European venue are the MTFs, mainly Chi-X and BATS Europe. … Continue Reading →