Two additional swap execution facilities have received regulatory approval to operate as the 2 October deadline for SEF trading approaches.
Fixed income venue operator MarketAxess received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to operate its SEF.
MarketAxess SEF will offer trading in credit default swaps on an order book model enabling market participants to trade anonymously, in conjunction with a request-for-quote system.
“We are committed to building efficient e-trading technology that promotes increased transparency in the swaps markets, and to providing our clients with the leading functionality and liquidity for credit derivatives trading,” said Rick McVey, CEO, MarketAxess in a statement.
GFI Group also received CFTC approval to operate its SEF, GFI Swaps Exchange, which will list CFTC-regulated swaps in fixed income, interest rates, foreign exchange, energy, commodity and equity markets.
The new venue will offer its members a comprehensive range of electronic and other methods of trade execution, including central limit order book, electronic request-for-quote, voice-based request-for-quote, request-for-match, session-based matching and join-the-trade. GFI’s SEF will also facilitate execution of brokered trades, cross trades and block trades.
“With the approval of GFI’s SEF, we are able to provide our existing and future clients with regulatory certainty, choice and flexibility in their method of execution within the new market structure created by the Dodd-Frank Act,” Colin Heffron, CEO, GFI Group said.
“The introduction of SEFs will contribute to the transparency of the U.S. swaps markets while preserving their trading efficiency and deep liquidity,” Heffron added.
The latest decisions from the CFTC bring the total number of approved SEFs to five.