UPDATE
TRADING VENUES REGULATION
ICE to buy Virtu’s
BondPoint for
$400m EU and US reach agreement
on derivatives trading
ahead of MiFID II
ICE has agreed to buy Virtu Finan-
cial’s fixed income trading venue
BondPoint in a deal worth $400
million.
The purchase will enable ICE to
bolster its fixed income capabilities
within its data and technology struc-
ture as it continues to expand into
the asset class.
Virtu Financial inherited BondPoint
following its $1.4 billion merger with
KCG earlier this year, although the
firm made its intentions to offload
the platform clear after looking to
streamline the business.
ICE won its bid to buy BondPoint
fighting off competition from other
fixed income venues including Mar-
ketAxess and Tradeweb.
Doug Cifu, CEO at Virtu Financial,
explained after a thorough analysis,
the management team concluded
BondPoint was better suited outside
of Virtu’s core operations.
“Following a competitive process,
ICE distinguished itself as a strong
and stable global organisation that
could provide the best home for
BondPoint, its customers, and its
employees,” he added.
CEO at ICE, Jeff Sprecher, also
commented that the purchase of
BondPoint will allow ICE to continue
to innovate in fixed income as the
markets continue to evolve.
“We look forward to welcoming
the BondPoint team to ICE, and
supporting solutions that enable our
customers to transact with confi-
dence in an increasingly transparent,
automated and data-driven market-
place,” he said.
Decision means banks and
traders can use US venues
to trade derivatives in
compliance with MiFID II.
T
he European Commission
and the derivatives regulator
in the US have agreed on terms,
which will see mutual recog-
nition of trading venues weeks
before MiFID II.
The decision ensures some
trading venues in the US will
gain equivalence for MiFID II
rules and platforms in Europe
can offer services to counterpar-
ties in the US.
EU counterparties will be able
to trade derivatives subject to Mi-
FID II trading rules on regulatory
swap execution facilities (SEFs)
and designated contract markets
(DCMs) venues in the US.
The European Commission and
the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC) explained
the ruling does not affect EU
counterparties trading on venues
for derivatives not subject to
MiFID II trading obligation.
“European firms can continue
trading in derivatives on US
trading platforms and effective-
ly hedge against risk, setting
conditions for stronger growth
in Europe,” said Valdis Dom-
brovskis, European Commission
vice-president in charge of finan-
cial stability.
“On the other hand, US firms
can hedge their exposures on EU
platforms, facilitating trade and
exchange between the EU and
the US.”
A ‘common approach’ was first
announced in October when the
CFTC recommended an order of
exemption from its SEF registra-
tion requirements for multilat-
eral trading facilities (MTFs)
and organised trading facilities
(OTFs) in the EU.
Christopher Giancarlo, chair-
man of the CFTC, welcomed
the Commission’s decision on
equivalence for US trading
venues regulated by the CFTC,
adding it is essential to ensuring
a strong and stable trans-Atlantic
derivatives market.
The decision represents the
third time both bodies have been
able to reach equivalence agree-
ments; first in 2016 with respect
to central clearinghouses, earlier
this year with respect to margin
requirements for uncleared
swaps and most recently with
trading venues.
If you’re interested in this, turn
to page 48 for a deeper look into
this issue.
Issue 54
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