Korea Exchange Dollar Futures to Be Listed on CME Globex Later This Year

CME Group, a globally active derivatives marketplace, and Korea Exchange Inc. (KRX), a South-Korean trading venue, today jointly announced the imminent listing of KRX’s US Dollar Future contract on CME Globex as of December 8th, 2014.

The contract will be hosted after-hours and is aimed at providing international market participants expanded access to the Korean markets. The new contract is denominated in US dollars with the contract size being set at $10,000 per contract. Physical delivery is a viable form of final settlement.

"The addition of KRX's US Dollar Futures contract on CME Globex is an important part of our continued global expansion, and this will enable their products to benefit from the speed, reliability and transparency of our industry-leading electronic Trading Platform ," said Phupinder Gill, Chief Executive Officer of CME Group. William Knottenbelt, CME’s Senior Managing Director added: “We look forward to working more closely with KRX in providing market participants access to round the clock Risk Management products."

On the other side of the deal, Kyungsoo Choi, Chairman and CEO of KRX, sees the

connection between the two trading venues as one of many required steps to internationalise Korean Won-denominated markets.

"The launch of this after-hours trading of US Dollar Futures on CME Globex will be another big step forward for KRX to internationalize the Korean Won cash and futures markets and globally expand its customer base," said Mr. Choi. "In this regard, we are pleased that we can provide this enhanced 24-hour risk management tool to customers and the opportunity of a new revenue source to members," he added.

A Recent History

KRX was established in 2005 through the merger of the Korea Stock Exchange (KSE), the Korea Futures Exchange (KOFEX), the KOSDAQ Market and the KOSDAQ Committee. The KRX is the only exchange in South Korea and offers a diverse range of traded products including, stocks, bonds, derivatives, ETFs, equity-linked warrants (ELWs), real estate investment trusts (REITs) and ship investment companies.

According to the KRX, at the start of 2014 the trading venue had 1,831 companies including 15 foreign firms listed on either KOSPI, KOSDAQ or KONEX. The annual trading value reached $1,284.6 billion in 2013, making KRX the world's 10th largest stock exchange. The trading venue registered an annual trading volume of 820.7 million contracts last year.

According to an Industry Survey last year, KRX's US Dollar Futures contract was the 7th most traded FX futures contract in the world last year, with 51.8 million contracts traded. This US Dollar Futures contract is the second KRX contract to be hosted on CME Globex. In 2009, CME Group and KRX announced after-hours access to KOSPI 200 Futures on CME Globex.