Derivatives

Singapore Exchange (SGX) has upgraded its derivatives market trading engine, Quest-DT. The improved platform will cater for increased demands from high-velocity traders.

The bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers has prompted hedge funds to reassess their counterparty risk exposures when trading over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, according to Ian Mainwaring, head of the alternative investments practice at investment management consultancy Citisoft.

Use of derivatives by fund managers will rise over the next 12 to 18 months despite market turbulence and record levels of redemptions from hedge funds, according to a new report by Protiviti, a risk consultancy.

Patsystems, a provider of derivatives trading solutions, has released AlgoServer, an algorithmic trading tool through which brokers can develop and distribute their proprietary execution algorithms to customers.

Hedge funds and traditional asset managers in North America will spend as much as $305 million on low-latency options trading infrastructures in 2011, up from $253m in 2008, according to estimates by Tabb Group, a research firm.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and its subsidiary the CBOE Stock Exchange (CBSX) have launched a fully automated execution service for combined option and stock trades through a single electronic platform.

BNY ConvergEx Group, an agency brokerage, has launched FBW Direct, a new options trading facility to give off-floor clients the ability to route options orders electronically to new exchange-based floor broker workstations (FBW).

The US exchange-traded equity options markets is to undergo a technological revolution, according to a new report from research firm Celent.

Long-only asset managers in the US are increasingly taking positions in equity derivatives, according to a new study by Tabb Group, a research and advisory firm.

The Nasdaq OMX PHLX options exchange, formerly the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, has completed the roll-out of a complex order system, while rival platform NYSE Arca Options revealed it was piloting a similar initiative.