Derivatives interest building across Asia, reckons NYSE Liffe

Demand among Asian customers for sophisticated derivatives products is building steadily, as reflected by growing membership of NYSE Liffe.

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Demand among Asian customers for sophisticated derivatives products is building steadily, as reflected by growing membership of NYSE Liffe.

The Europe-based derivatives division of exchange group NYSE Euronext has doubled its regional membership to 14 during the last six months, including Taiwan's KGI Futures, which will connect to futures markets in London and Paris.

NYSE Liffe currently sees a strong pipeline in new clients, sourced from its three regional offices in Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Hong Kong was their most recent Asian office opening, which was established 18 months ago.

"We plan on realising greater potential in the next 12-24 months as appetite from Asian investors for western Index futures and interest rate products grows," says Lee Hodgkinson, head of sales and client coverage APAC at NYSE Euronext. He said that a major driver of Asian interest is the search for liquid products to trade.

In Taiwan, clients are seeing demand for index futures products from retail investors, and throughout Greater China, interest from commodity end-users, including in soft commodities such as sugar and cocoa. In the more developed Japanese market, the firm is seeing local banks as takers of interest rate products.

"In Hong Kong, China and Taiwan we are seeing interest in FTSE 100  and other index futures," says Hodgkinson. "In Singapore, our interest rates and commodity products are currently widely traded. We continue to work with banks and end users in Japan, which has traditionally been a community focused on our Euribor interest rate futures, as we feel that the Japanese market has the greatest potential for our suite of mid-curve options."

By: Simon Osborne

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