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Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today announced the launch of a series of updated Nordic Generic Forward Rate Agreement (FRA) contracts, including the flagship Nasdaq Stibor™ 3 Month Contract. The products have been redesigned in order to increase liquidity and realize the advantages of listed products compared to over the counter (OTC) instruments. Also, expiration has been concentrated to International Money Market (IMM) days and the new products are now open to all market participants.
“The Nasdaq Stibor 3 Month Contract has been designed to meet the needs of a changing market landscape and developed in close dialogue with market participants” says Fredrik Ekström, SVP and head of Nordic Fixed Income. “We are confident that the renewed products, together with our existing FRA Forward and RIBA contracts, will strengthen Nasdaq’s role as the backbone of short-end derivatives trading and clearing in Sweden”.
Nasdaq Stibor™ 3 Month Contracts are OTC traded contracts between parties, that determine the rate of interest to be paid on an agreed future date. Stibor™, or the Stockholm Interbank Offered Rate, is a reference rate that shows an average of the interest rates at which a number of banks active on the Swedish money market (“the Stibor™ banks”) are willing to lend to one another without collateral at different maturities.
The new offering will consist of the following contracts: Nasdaq Stibor 3 Month Contract, Nasdaq Nibor 6 Month Contract, Nasdaq Cibor 3 & 6 Month Contract, and will replace the current Generic FRA contracts on March 1.
No changes will be applied to Nasdaq’s exchange listed FRA forwards or the RIBA contract.
The Stibor™ trademark is used by permission of the Swedish Bank Association.
