The launch aligns with an increased push to expand the firm’s product portfolio in European fixed income derivatives.  

The firm, which is a subsidiary of Deutsche Börse Group, claims that liquidity in the EU bonds market will be strengthened through offering a physically deliverable futures contract and hopes to bolster the EU’s position as a major issuer in the European and global capital markets.  

 “The launch of the Euro-EU bond futures is more than just a new product for Eurex,” said Matthias Graulich, global head of products and markets at Eurex. 

“It is a strategic commitment to supporting European ambitions for greater autonomy at a time when the continent is relying on additional debt issuance and investors are seeking tailored tools to manage their exposure to EU debt. This step complements and re-affirms Eurex’s ‘Home of the Euro Yield Curve strategy’.” 

Eurex has also said that the launch will aid market participants in decisions surrounding risk management and trading opportunities, through aligning cash, repo and derivatives markets with international fixed income standards. 

The move builds on conversations between Eurex and market participants and the EU Commission and follows the addition of the EU commission to Eurex repo as a trading member in 2024.  

Read more – Bloomberg Tradebook integrates with Eurex Enlight 

Futures and options expansion has been a focus for Eurex in recent months. In February 2025, the firm announced a collaboration with Bloomberg Tradebook, with the development being made available on all Eurex equity options and futures, alongside all foreign exchange (FX) derivatives.  

The post Eurex to launch futures on EU bonds appeared first on The TRADE.

André Eue, Brian Coffaro

Existing clearing broker relationships can be used by firms, removing the need for tri-party give-up agreements with Eurex market makers.  

The new development will be available for all equity options and futures traded on Eurex, alongside all foreign exchange (FX) derivatives.  

The European off-book business will be further electronified by the move, allowing firms to directly control and manage their own flow. 

This flow can be responded to directly by Eurex market makers without any additional costs, offering tighter spreads and increased participation.  

“Direct access to Enlight through Bloomberg Tradebook represents a major step forward in providing market participants with greater efficiency, cost savings, and control in off-book trading,” said André Eue, head of market development and pricing at Eurex.  

“We’re pleased to be working with Bloomberg and look forward to continuing to provide clients with tools that enable them to efficiently and effectively identify new trading opportunities.”  

Eurex and Bloomberg Tradebook participants will benefit from an integration with existing workflows and clearing setups, which aims to simplify use, while customisable RFQs offer control over trade visibility and anonymity.  

The connectivity will offer market participants access to off-book trading, allowing for the completion of large orders, alongside minimising information leakage. 

Read more: Bloomberg goes live with new US Treasury dealer algos 

“The connectivity between Eurex and the Bloomberg Tradebook front end enables us to deliver a more streamlined trading workflow to our mutual clients,” said Brian Coffaro, global head of futures and options trading at Bloomberg.   

“As market participants explore different ways to trade, Bloomberg is focused on providing them with access to robust trading tools alongside our leading data and analytics to help them efficiently find the other side of their trades at the best available price.” 

The post Bloomberg Tradebook integrates with Eurex Enlight appeared first on The TRADE.

Robbert Booij

US market participants can now more efficiently manage their exposure in European equity markets through these additional instruments, said Eurex. 

Specifically, EURO STOXX 50 Index Dividend Options and EURO STOXX Banks Index Dividend Options can now be directly traded from the US. 

With dividends increasingly recognised as an asset class in their own right, the market is ripe for further scope in this space when it comes to listed dividend derivatives.

Robbert Booij, chief executive of Eurex Frankfurt, highlighted that this is a milestone as Eurex seeks to expand its global reach. 

“Removing access barriers and making our products available to global investors is a top priority for us. With dividend options on key indices such as the EURO STOXX 50 Index and the EURO STOXX Banks Index, US investors have another efficient tool to manage their exposure to the European market.” 

The move follows Eurex’s launch of mid-curve options on EURO STOXX 50 Index Dividend Futures last year, which are also tradable in the US. 

Speaking at a closed Deutsche Boerse roundtable last November, Erik Müller, chief executive of Eurex Clearing, highlighted exchange traded derivatives (ETD), interest rate swaps (IRS) and repo as the three key pillars for the business.

The post CFTC approves Eurex dividend options for US trading appeared first on The TRADE.

Robbert Booij

The asset class is increasingly becoming a buy-side topic said experts as end clients are voluntarily joining the cleared repo environment, viewing it as a neat instrument to facilitate trading. 

Erik Müller, chief executive of Eurex Clearing described repo as “the oil in the wheels of financial markets,” and a key priority for the business going forward.

In 2017, the area was “barely double digit” and now boasts triple digit revenue – with this significant growth put down to clients looking to finance their undertakings and mobilise collateral to get cash. 

Speaking to the reasons in more depth, Müller explained it was down to “the successful risk management mechanisms of CCPs, including initial margin and variation margin.” 

Specifically, variation margin refers to the margin to margin each day, while initial margin makes up the part of margin that covers future market moves.

“Those two together means that end clients really need a mechanism on how to transform the securities that they own into cash if needed, as variation margin is cash only at the CCP,” added Müller.

“That’s why if you look at our repo franchise, some of our biggest clients nowadays are different from 24 months ago – for example, Dutch pension funds have become some of our largest repo clients.”

Read more: Carrot or stick? How the EU plans to reduce reliance on UK CCPs for derivatives clearing

Repo made up one of three key pillars highlighted by Müller, along with exchange traded derivatives (ETD) and interest rate swaps (IRS). In addition, retail trading was also cited as a key area of focus as market structure changes and increasing focus across the region continues to grow.

Robbert Booij, chief executive of Eurex Frankfurt, highlighted the significant opportunity Europe has to embrace retail across Europe, describing the area as “a missing customer group for European markets as a whole”.

He explained: “It’s difficult also to make markets more attractive for retail investors, but we do believe we have a very good opportunity as we have the equity and fixed income products and mini futures, and we are also open for 23 hours a day – so all the infrastructure and the capabilities are there.”

The retail market in Europe is of course considerably smaller than in jurisdictions such as China and the US, the first and second biggest retail markets respectively, with fragmentation both jurisdictionally and culturally a key factor across the EU. 

Read more: The relentless rise of retail trading

Booij asserted that though numerous cultural and regulatory factors are significant and perhaps unable to be combated, there are practical steps that can be taken across the region to open it up to the retail market.

Specifically, making sure that retail investors are well educated on the risks involved with investing in derivatives, and making clear exactly how derivatives can fulfil a very good, cost-efficient way of getting exposure. 

Further, the harmonisation on the payment for order flow ban in Europe is also set to potentially create additional interest in derivatives investing.

“It’s education, it’s product offering, and marketing potentially as well [that will boost retail trading]. We see that many other exchanges in Europe are doing the same but it’s important to emphasise that we also will remain very careful as well to make sure that we do not create a situation where retail investors make uninformed decisions.”

The post Repo trading becoming an increasing priority for the buy-side appeared first on The TRADE.

The move builds upon the launch of FTSE Bitcoin index futures and options last year, falling in line with Eurex’s goal to offer secure access to cryptocurrencies in a regulated market environment.

Read more: Eurex becomes first European exchange to launch Bitcoin index futures

According to the exchange, there is significant trading and hedging demand from institutional and professional customers for Ethereum, as reflected in record trading volumes in derivatives and other investment products.

“We look forward to expanding our offering in crypto derivatives together with FTSE Russell and Digital Asset Research for our clients,” said Randolf Roth, member of the Eurex executive board.

“As one of the world’s leading CCPs Eurex offers trading on a regulated exchange and is therefore the right partner to enter the crypto space for institutional clients.”

The new options and futures are listed in EUR and USD, with the respective FTSE Ethereum index as the underlying. The contract size is equivalent to 10 Ether, which is approximately $35,000.

Both of the contracts are cash settled and expire on the last Friday of each month. Monthly and quarterly maturities will be available, alongside weekly expiring contracts for options.

“We are delighted to support the expansions of Eurex’s digital assets ecosystem with the offering of futures and options on the FTSE Ethereum index,” said Kristen Mierzwa, head of digital assets at FTSE Russell, an LSEG business.

“In association with the experts at Digital Asset Research we have established an industry standard for assessing underlying digital asset and exchange inclusion. We have applied this vetting methodology to offer indices reflective of the real investable market.”

The post Eurex expands crypto derivatives suite with the launch of Ether futures and options appeared first on The TRADE.

Imanol Urquizu

The Spanish asset manager has begun to expand its FX futures business to Eurex, supported by Banco Santander as clearing member and Deutsche Bank as liquidity provider.

The move from Santander Asset Management emphasises the growing trend towards listed FX business, in which market participants are utilising listed FX derivatives to hedge their portfolio performance.

“By now trading and clearing listed FX derivatives on Eurex, Santander Asset Management benefits from low exchange fees and regulatory certainty within the EU,” said Jens Quiram, global head fixed income and currencies (FIC) derivatives and repo sales at Eurex.

In addition, Santander has stated plans to establish FX options business at Eurex. Backed by Deutsche Bank, the asset manager traded the first FX options block trade ever at Eurex.

“In addition to our engagement in FX futures we actively collaborate with multiple FX dealers to explore the trading of FX options at Eurex,” said Imanol Urquizu, head of derivatives at Santander Asset Management.

“Integrating FX futures and FX options within the Eurex ecosystem unlocks operational efficiencies and enhances our risk netting capabilities.”

Mario Muth, global head of platform and listed derivatives sales and head of fixed income market structure at Deutsche Bank, added: “Trading FX on Eurex enables clients to benefit from the efficiencies of a listed derivatives market, and this is a prime example of how Deutsche Bank partners with clients and trading venues to provide liquidity and solutions in the evolving FX market.”

The post Santander Asset Management joins Eurex for listed FX business appeared first on The TRADE.

Randolf Roth

The tie-up will enable interoperability between Wematch’s total return swaps (TRS) module, which automates trade matching and collateral optimisation, with Eurex’s BTRF products. The ‘futurisation’ of synthetic equity financing is designed to provide portfolio margining efficiencies and streamlined operations. 

“Collaboration with leading industry innovators like Wematch is essential for Eurex to continue evolving our pioneering BTRF product suite to meet increasing global demand,” said Randolf Roth, member of the executive board at Eurex. “By harmonising our respective strengths in synthetic product innovation and TRS lifecycle management expertise, we can radically enhance and optimise the entire value chain for BTRF users worldwide.” 

The two firms hope to improve the end-to-end workflow for BTRF market participants – from basket construction and pricing to trade execution, lifecycle events like amendments and substitutions, and ultimately streamlined clearing and settlement. 

“Partnering with Eurex creates immense opportunities to optimise an increasingly critical area of the securities finance ecosystem,” added David Raccat, chief revenue officer and co-founder of Wematch. “Synthetic products are vital for efficient capital deployment and portfolio utilisation, and BTRFs represent a paradigm-shifting innovation layering exchange benefits onto this model. Our transformative partnership will empower market participants to seamlessly access and capitalise on these pioneering instruments and leverage our cutting-edge workflow tools on Total Return Swaps.” 

The roll-out will be staggered in strategic phases over the coming months, with the full integration across pricing, execution and lifecycle management targeted for a Q3 2024 launch. 

The partnership follows a recent expansion of Eurex’s partnership with Euroclear Bank, with clients of both organisations now able to post collateral directly to Eurex Clearing, with the ability to further optimise the pool of collateral held in Euroclear’s international central securities depository (ICSD).

The post Eurex partners with Wematch.live on basket total return futures appeared first on The TRADE.

Clients of both the Brussels-based Euroclear Bank and Eurex Clearing will now be able to post collateral directly to Eurex Clearing, with the ability to further optimise the pool of collateral held in Euroclear’s International Central Securities Depository (ICSD).  

“We are excited to have Eurex Clearing joining the group of CCPs using our services to support their critical margining activity.” said Olivier Grimonpont, managing director, head of product management, market liquidity, Euroclear. “As an open financial market infrastructure we continuously strive to benefit our ecosystem by creating efficiencies which contribute to a more stable, secure financial marketplace, providing the best in class service to clients.” 

According to Euroclear, the service offering will increase operational efficiency for market users and streamline the collateral management process. 

Matthias Graulich, chief strategy officer, member of the executive board of Eurex Clearing said: “We are pleased to offer Euroclear Bank as an additional securities collateral location for provision of margin and default fund contributions. With this service we jointly create added value for our clients by facilitating a smooth access to the CCP and by enabling efficiencies across the clearing community.” 

Graulich further added: “Euroclear Bank strengths our offering for the buy-side clients and complements our existing services such as ISA Direct and ISA Direct Indemnified clearing models.” 

The agreement builds on the existing partnership which sees Eurex Clearing already use Euroclear Bank as an eligible securities settlement location. 

The post Euroclear expands its offering with Eurex Clearing appeared first on The TRADE.

Randolf Roth

Randolf Roth, member of the Eurex executive board, said: “Eurex reinforces its commitment and continues to lead in delivering innovative solutions that address increased capital requirements by offering important capital efficiencies to our sell-side and buy-side customers. We are pleased to work with MSCI to further strengthen and expand the TRF success story.”

Specifically, the TRF’s, denominated in US dollars, will launch on: MSCI World Index, MSCI EAFE Index, and MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The underlying benchmark US funding rate is SOFR, initially available during US trading hours before further expansion into European morning and Asian trading sessions later in 2024.

According to Eurex, “TRFs’ objective is to replicate the returns of traditional bilaterally negotiated equity or equity index-based swaps. However, compared to swaps, central clearing enables portfolio margining, simplifies settlement, and mitigates counterparty risk.” 

Eurex’s TRF suite – launched in 2016 – already includes benchmark Index TRFs, individual Equity TRFs and Basket TRFs. Currently, the open interest in TRFs at Eurex is more than 3 million contracts, €125 billion in notional terms. 

Read more: Eurex names ex-ABN AMRO Clearing Bank chief exec as new CEO

“We’re pleased to work with Eurex as they expand their TRF segment to include MSCI Indexes. This reflects the increasing demand for cleared and listed TRFs on global benchmarks, offering enhanced capital efficiencies to market participants,” said George Harrington, managing director of MSCI.

The post Eurex enhances total return futures remit to include MSCI indexes appeared first on The TRADE.

Robbert Booij is set to take over as chief executive of Eurex Frankfurt AG, effective from 1 July 2024, succeeding Michael Peters in the role. Booij, who is joining the Eurex executive board in May, most recently served as chief executive of ABN AMRO Clearing, having been appointed in 2018. He has also previously held senior positions at: ICE Clear Netherlands, AFN, and the FCA. Booij is also currently chair of the European Advisory Board and member of the Global Board at FIA, as well as having previously served as chair of the Eurex exchange council. 

Abhay Kumar Sinha was named co-head of credit trading, Asia Pacific at Barclays, set to lead the credit business alongside James Roberts. Sinha has held numerous senior positions during his 25 years in the credit industry, having most recently served at Deutsche Bank for seven years, including as managing director and head of special situations – Asia. He also led Deutsche Bank’s corporate financing business in India and contributed heavily to the development of the bank’s structured finance business across south and southeast Asia. 

Mark Burgess joined commodities specialist Marex as equities trader following a 14-year stint at Winterflood Securities. Burgess joined market maker Winterflood back in 2009 and has served as European equities trader, head of European market making, and most recently UK equities trader. Burgess’ appointment follows two other traders, Ben Ralph-Davies and Joel Russell, who left Winterflood’s London business last year to join rival market maker Shore Capital, according to sources. 

Virtu Financial appointed Simon McGhee in an exchange-traded product (ETP) and fixed income sales role. McGhee joined Virtu Financial after a career break, which followed a nearly eight-year stint at Bluefin Europe. While at Bluefin, McGhee most recently served as a partner – a position he held for 10 months. Prior to that, he was director, head of ETF business development at the firm. Before joining Bluefin, McGhee held an iShares capital markets role at BlackRock for three years. His previous roles include stints as a portfolio/ETF execution trader at Barclays Capital; pan European sales trader at Blue Oak Capital; stockbroker at Compagnie Financial Tradition; equity dealer at City Equities.

The post People Moves Monday: Goldman Sachs, Eurex, Barclays and more… appeared first on The TRADE.