The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Stockholm-based Cinnober Financial Technology under which Cinnober will provide its trading technology to CBOE for the electronic trading of equity and index FLEX options.
With this announcement, CBOE brings the first Internet-based, fully automated electronic trading system to the U.S. marketplace for the trading of FLEX options, which are customizable options contracts. CBOE expects to launch its system CBOEFLEX.net later this summer, subject to regulatory approval.
The CBOEFLEX.net system will be based on Cinnober's TRADExpress Trading Engine and will also utilize the over-the-counter (OTC) platform Ctrade. Cinnober's Trading Engine is a fully scalable, fault tolerant trading platform for matching of complex contracts. Cinnober's technology includes electronic negotiation tools that enable brokers, salespeople and their clients to negotiate trades in real-time, securely, over the Internet. The CBOEFLEX.net system will cater to the growing OTC options market, appealing to those FLEX users who wish to execute their trades with simple point-and-click functionality.By offering this new trading interface, CBOE expects to attract a significant segment of the OTC market activity to the system by providing the ability to trade FLEX options electronically.
"CBOE created the concept of FLEX options in 1993, and through this agreement with Cinnober Financial Technology, we will take FLEX option trading to a whole new level by introducing the first Internet-based, fully-automated, electronic FLEX options trading system in the U.S.," said CBOE Chairman and CEO William J. Brodsky. "This revolutionary system will offer FLEX users a host of benefits, including significantly reducing costs, establishing clearing transparency and counterparty anonymity, and offering point-and-click execution of FLEX trades."
"We are very proud to have been assigned by CBOE to provide this new trading technology for their FLEX options trading," said Cinnober CEO Gunnar Lindell. "CBOE is the largest options marketplace in the world and a great innovator and we look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with them. It has once again been confirmed that our choice of technology is the choice of the future, helping us provide state of the art, cost efficient systems. We see all our clients as partners, working in close cooperation with them to deliver according to expectations. We believe this is the only way to build long-lasting relationships."