In a bid to step up competition with International Petroleum Exchange, New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has begun allowing floor brokers trading Brent oil futures in Dublin to take the other side of their customers' trades. Brokers can take advantage of the new rule if they have advance permission in writing from the customer and have already announced the order to the ring at least twice without anyone else taking the opposite side of the trade. The Exchange already allows this type of cross trade, under similar conditions, in the back months of its copper futures contract. In all of its other markets, cross trades are limited to matching the orders of two customers after announcing each to the ring at least twice.
A survey conducted by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) has found that the trading distribution by investor type in HKEx's derivatives market was almost unchanged...