Deutsche Boerse gets go ahead for Singapore clearing business

[LONDON] Deutsche Boerse AG has won final approval to run a clearinghouse in Singapore, bringing the company a step closer to opening a derivatives exchange in Asia.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore approved Eurex Clearing Asia to clear equity, bond and currency futures, the city-state's financial regulator said in a statement on Monday. MAS is still considering an application for Eurex Exchange Asia, which Deutsche Boerse plans to open in the second quarter of 2016.

All the derivatives products available on Deutsche Boerse's Singapore exchange from the first day of trading will be futures that expire daily. When the Singapore trading day comes to an end, all the open positions will automatically transfer to Eurex in Frankfurt, enabling the global banks who account for much of the activity on Deutsche Boerse's markets to trade continuously during Asian and European hours.

Eurex Exchange Asia will list contracts on two-, five- and 10-year German government debt, also known as schatz, bobl and bund futures. It will have the same range of foreign-exchange futures as Eurex Frankfurt with products for six main currency pairs. The new venture in Singapore will offer contracts on Deutsche Boerse's two most popular equity indexes: the Euro Stoxx 50 and the DAX.

The Frankfurt-based exchange operator will ask the European Securities and Markets Authority to approve Eurex Clearing Asia as a clearing venue for firms based in the European Union.

BLOOMBERG