Bahrain's Derivatives Exchange Hits $50 Billion in Trade Volume

Bahrain's Financial Exchange, a multi asset financial trading venue has hit a milestone in its total trading volume since inception. The BFX hit a ground breaking $50 bln across its diverse product range. The trading volume on the BFX markets increased at a compounded monthly growth rate of 69% per month with the cumulative (single-side) trading turnover crossing the USD 50 billion mark on the 1st of February 2013.

The Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX), the first multi-asset exchange in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, proudly announces the achievement of a major milestone with its total cumulative trading turnover crossing the USD 50 billion mark on the 1st of February 2013, with the total trading volume increasing to over 4 million contracts. The compounded monthly growth rate of the BFX trading volume for the period between December 2011 and January 2013 was 69% per month, indicating the rapid growth in the BFX derivatives segment primarily due to the increase in the BFX membership and overall market participation.

For the period between the launch date on the 23rd of November 2011 and the 8th of February 2013, the total cumulative trading volume has increased to 4,371,064 contracts, with a cumulative trading turnover of approx. USD 52.85 billion. The highest daily trading volume of 118,495 contracts was recorded on the 17th of January 2013. The trading volume on the BFX markets reached 1 million contracts in 258 trading days; whereas, the 4 million contracts mark was achieved in only 51 trading days. Similarly, the trading turnover on the BFX markets reached USD 25 billion in 246 trading days, as compared to the next USD 25 billion mark, which was achieved in 63 trading days.

The BFX Futures are currently available on the USD Dollar versus the Indian Rupee (USD-INR) currency pair, Euro versus the US Dollar (EUR-USD) currency pair, Gold, Silver and Natural Gas. Other innovative products in the pipeline include the BFX MCX $ Gold and Silver Futures as well as Options contracts on the USD-INR currency pair.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Arshad Khan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the BFX and the BFX Clearing and Depository Corporation (BCDC), said: "A good set of trading figures to start year 2013 is a positive indicator for the effectiveness of our strategy in balancing between attracting higher Liquidity and the selected products we have listed in our Exchange, and further reinforces a promising long-term growth in the regional capital markets." He also added: "Factoring-in today's market appetite, we have recently launched Futures contracts on Silver and INR-USD currency pair and we are pleased to report that as a result, the trading volume on the BFX markets during the first 29 calendar days of Q1 2013 is already 143% of the total trading volume during the entire Q4 2012. Excellent opportunities for hedging, investments and arbitrage continue to attract a diverse range of market participants from all across the region".

The added Volatility in Gold and the Indian rupee has boosted volume on BFX, two of its primary contracts. Piyush Parekh CEO of VIBHS, a clearing member of BFX says "with the INR topping record highs against the dollar and similar volatility in the yellow metal, we saw clients taking advantage of the rapid movements".

Gold hit a high of 1884 in September 2011.

The INR hit a high of 57.33 against the greenback in the summer of 2012.

Volatility has been a key driver of the continued growth seen in the Spot FX markets, in the last BIS Survey daily trade volume was recorded at $4 trillion, 20% higher then 2007 figures.