A new electronic futures exchange being set up by a group of banks and trading firms to take on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange plans to start live trading in June after a month of systems testing.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission appears likely to complete its review of the Electronic Liquidity Exchange's (ELX) Designated Contract Market application in early Spring, says CEO Neal Wolkoff. Comprehensive system testing and mock trading sessions are scheduled for May, opening the way for live trading in quarterly Treasury futures contracts to begin in June, he says.
ELX has been built on BGC Partners' eSpeed electronic trading platform, which is currently applied to dealing in US Treasury cash markets and European government bonds. Current users of the eSpeed application will have direct access to futures trading on ELX.
Says Wolkoff: "We are very pleased with the strong interest in connecting to ELX and are working with a broad range of institutions and technology providers to prepare for live trading.".
Clearing and delivery services for ELX will be provided by The Options Clearing Corporation. The National Futures Association, the self-regulatory organization for the US futures industry, will provide market surveillance and oversight for the new exchange.