ASX and SGX working together to enhance market connectivity

ASX and Singapore Exchange (SGX) today announced they would establish a presence in each other’s co-location data centre to enhance customer connectivity to their markets.

From September, SGX’s co-location data centre in Singapore will host the ASX hub, providing direct connectivity to the ASX 24 futures market based at the ASX Australian Liquidity Centre in Sydney.

This will allow customers in the SGX co-location data centre to connect more easily to ASX 24, resulting in an expected increase in the flow of futures market activity into Australia.

It will extend ASX’s international hub network, which currently includes Chicago, New York, London, Hong Kong and an existing location in Singapore. About 6% of ASX 24 futures and options volume is generated from its international hub network.

The next stage of the partnership will allow customers in the ASX Australian Liquidity Centre to directly connect via the ASX global network to SGX, which is the biggest offshore market for Asian equity derivatives and the only international venue with futures contracts for Chinese and Indonesian equity indices.

The partnership with ASX extends SGX’s commitment to better connectivity, thereby drawing more global participants to the Singapore market and enabling SGX customers to easily access international markets. Earlier this month, SGX’s hubs in London and Chicago began operating as part of its connectivity initiative.

Mr Peter Hiom, ASX’s Deputy CEO said, “The establishment of an ASX futures hub in the SGX facility bolsters the global distribution network for ASX 24, connecting more customers into the Australian market and enhancing our presence in Asia. This is a new initiative that is part of our plan to internationalise the ASX and it demonstrates that by working together with other exchanges we can deliver new and greater investment opportunities to Australian and foreign investors.”

Mr Muthukrishnan Ramaswami, president of SGX said, “This new SGX-ASX partnership enables both exchanges’ customers to easily leverage the strengths of the Australian and Singapore derivatives markets. As the Asian Gateway, SGX is delighted to enable easier and more cost effective connectivity offerings at a time when investors are increasingly using exchange-traded derivatives to manage risks in the various global marketplaces.”