Swiss-German derivatives exchange Eurex has announced a connectivity agreement with software vendor Trading Technologies that is expected to boost its prospects for penetrating the US futures markets.
At a press conference in Chicago at 1600 GMT, Eurex unveiled a partnership with German-founded derivatives software house Trading Technologies that will provide it with instant access to traders of US Treasury futures contracts.
The deal is a substantial boost for Eurex, which plans to open a new US futures exchange in February next year in an effort to break the dominance of the giant Chicago futures markets. Trading Technologies users are understood to be responsible for about 75% of the turnover in the Chicago Board of Trade's primary futures contract.
Under the agreement, the German derivatives exchange and TT will offer their mutual customers access to Eurex US through the TT front-end software X_TRADER for 24 months at no extra cost. In addition, all current TT customers will receive a free upgrade to TT's premium package X_TRADER Pro for three months.
By the beginning of December, 157 customers had already signed up to become members of Eurex US. Pre-simulation for traders began 1 December, says the exchange, with full simulation planned for 5 January.