Last year Eurex, the Frankfurt-based derivatives exchange formerly
known as DTB, emerged as the world's top derivatives exchanges by
volume of business, overtaking long-time leader America's CBOT. A
few years ago, such a change would have prompted an increased sense
of competition between the American and European exchanges. But not
now. Eurex has an alliance with CBOT, just as Eurex's main European
rival, Liffe, has an agreement with CME. Challenged by new
technology and the difficulty of maintaining customer loyalty in
face of new market players, Europe and America's leading
derivatives exchanges have acknowledged the need to pull together.
Indeed Eurex is seeking more alliances in 2000.
This is a turbulent period for exchanges in which apparent winners
and losers can swap places surprisingly quickly. Liffe seemed to be
in terminal decline when it lost market share in the key European
government bond future to Frankfurt in 1998. But it quickly changed
its...
