CME Group is to close its London-based derivatives exchange and clearing house, CME Europe and CME Clearing Europe, by year-end 2017. The announcement follows Nasdaq OMX’s decision to shut its London-based derivatives trading business, NLX, from 28 April 2017.
CME Group says it will work closely with all market participants and regulators to ensure a smooth transition and an orderly wind down of business operations, including the provision of CME Group market alternatives for actively traded products on CME Europe.
“While Europe continues to be a critically important and expanding market for CME Group, with average volumes of more than 2.6 million contracts per day from European clients during 2016, our customers have shown that they prefer to access our global products, deep liquidity and greater capital efficiencies through our US infrastructure,” said William Knottenbelt, CME Group senior managing director, International.
He added, “Though we have made the business decision to close these London-based entities, we will continue to maintain a significant operation in London to execute our global growth strategy, including serving our European client base, developing innovative products and services, and helping customers effectively manage their risk across every major asset class."
