Neue Terminbörse ELX Futures Exchange nimmt den Handel auf
ELX futures exchange invades CME turf
* Offering U.S. Treasury interest rate futures
* Backed by 13 banks and other financial firms
* Success seen as long shot
By Jonathan Spicer
NEW YORK, July 10 (Reuters) - U.S. futures exchange ELX Futures LP launches on Friday, challenging derivatives giant CME Group Inc (CME.O) with the backing of its bank owners and an introductory offer of free trading this month.
ELX will first offer trading in U.S. Treasury interest rate futures, and hopes to expand its product suite in the future.
Analysts see ELX's success as a long shot, given Chicago-based CME's deep liquidity in Treasury futures and its ability to adjust prices to fend off rivals. But New York-based ELX has turned heads in the last few months, announcing a flurry of agreements ahead of its launch.
Goldman Sachs (GS.N) on June 1 brought to 13 the number of banks and other firms in ELX's consortium of founding partners. Others include JPMorgan (JPM.N), Bank of America (BAC.N), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and big market maker GETCO.
In the last two weeks, commodity futures broker MF Global Ltd (MF.N) and derivatives broker Newedge signed on as merchants for ELX products.
"We plan to compete aggressively and offer our customers the best in service, technology and fees," ELX CEO Neal Wolkoff, who previously headed the American Stock Exchange, said in announcing the launch date.
ELX, which has not targeted a specific market share, enters the exchange arena as the Obama administration proposes to bring more derivatives on to exchanges as part of its financial markets overhaul.
CME, which runs the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, as well as derivatives market IntercontinentalExchange (ICE.N) are seen benefiting from the plan.
However, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said this week it is considering a clampdown on excessive speculation in energy and commodity trading -- an announcement that since helped drive CME shares down 10 percent, and ICE shares down 22 percent.
ELX has said it eventually wants to move into other major asset classes.
On Wednesday, the company said customer billings won't begin until Aug. 3, with a fee of 9 cents per contract for clearing and exchange for users with average daily volume above 400 contract sides. For low volume users the charge is 24 cents per contract.
ELX's other founding partners are Barclays Capital (BARC.L), BGC Partners (BGCP.O), Breakwater, Citigroup Inc (C.N), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), PEAK6, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) and Merrill Lynch, which Bank of America acquired. (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Gary Hill)
(Quelle: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0948046020090710)
