European FCMs have grown increasingly concerned about the impact that plans for phase two of Eurex's global clearing link will have on their operations. At a forum hosted by FOW, they said that they will incur additional costs and have to implement a number of complex operational procedures in order to participate in a move which appears to
offer little benefit to them or their users.
Under phase two, Eurex's European operations will close 90 minutes earlier than currently, at 4.30pm (GMT) rather than the current 6pm close, with trading after that switching to Eurex US, which will operate until 4pm (CST).
FCM representatives who spoke at the forum said they saw little demand for extending trading hours for Eurex products beyond 6pm, even outside Europe.
"We haven't seen any push, nor any real interest from clients [for an extension of hours]," said Christine Snow, senior vp futures and...