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Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) announced today that the value of over-the-counter (OTC) trades cleared by SGX AsiaClear® in Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs) and Oil Swaps from January to June 2008 nearly tripled to US$3.8 billion from US$1.3 billion in the first half of 2007.
The number of trading counterparty accounts grew 86% to 221 as at end-June 2008, from 119 at end-June 2007. The number of inter-dealer brokers (IDBs) supporting AsiaClear also increased to 25 from 17 in the same period. These new IDBs are from Japan, Korea, and Switzerland, further enhancing AsiaClear’s distribution to international customers and adding to its current network of IDBs from Italy, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
“Companies that want to hedge and clear their commodity-related risks in the region are increasingly using SGX AsiaClear. Through this credit mitigation facility, we have enabled many oil and freight market participants to trade with an expanded pool of counterparties. We are also seeing greater geographical diversity, with our growing pool of Asia Pacific counterparties from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Singapore attracting rising interest from counterparties based in Europe,” said Mr Benjamin Foo, SGX Head of Clearing, Commodities and AsiaClear.
SGX AsiaClear’s unique suite of products, such as Half-Day FFAs and Balance-of-Month contracts on Fuel Oil, Kerosene and Gasoil, has also contributed to the increase in trades cleared.
