The good news for the industry was that volumes continued to rise in July, totalling more than 112.8m contracts, a 21.7% increase from a year earlier, according to Options Industry Council (OIC). That marked the tenth straight month in which volume topped 100m.
Growth of that scale has helped pacify all six US options exchanges and hold off the expected consolidation for the past several years. International Securities Exchange (ISE) has been key to boosting that volume growth by pioneering the first fully-electronic options market in the US. ISE, now the first publicly traded US options exchange, has also fostered a push among exchanges to create the fastest and most functional electronic marketplaces available.
For example, Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has responded to ISE's surge by introducing its hybrid system and remote market maker programme; it has also been considering moving from a member-owned exchange to a...