A New Financial Development

In a world first, The Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE) will become the first exchange globally to offer exchange traded Contracts for Difference (CFDs).These instruments will enjoy the traditional benefits of leverage enjoyed by over the counter contracts for difference but with reduced transaction costs from the central counter clearing model negating the financing charges traditionally imposed by third party cfd providers. By combining the attributes of exchange traded CFDs and the liquidity provided by a number of key Designated Price Makers, Australian traders and investors will benefit from a well regulated and competitively priced Exchange Traded CFD market place.

As one of the fastest growing product sectors in the financial markets in recent years, the SFE will list a suite of Exchange Traded CFDs in the second quarter of 2007. Exchange Traded CFDS will be traded through an exchange based mechanism. Additional features include transparency, enhanced liquidity, risk management, regulatory and supervisory characteristics associated with normal exchange traded products. .


CFDs are currently available in listed and/or over-the-counter markets in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Singapore, South Africa, Australia, and most recently New Zealand. Only accredited brokers will offer exchange traded cfds and multiple market makers have been appointed to facilitate liquidity. Current CFD providers focus on either the direct market access or market maker models. The suite of ASX CFDs will include CFDs on ASX's Top 50 stocks, major global equity indices, key FX crosses and commodities. CFDs traded through the newly developed exchange will essentially function the same as current otc contracts for difference except the transaction method will be through SYCOM (the Sydney Futures Exchange) trading platform instead of the traditional market maker or Direct Market Access models.

Additional market regulation will be provided through the Australian regulator ASIC who will oversee the activities of the entire market. ASX regulation teams will be responsible for monitoring any unusual activity and trading conditions deemed to be unfair thereby safeguarding participants. The trades will be backed by the Exchange Clearing Guarantee Fund which negates creditworthy exposure that exists under non-exchange CFD brokers and traders.

One of the benefits of the new exchange traded products include reduced Exposure to Broker Failure: The SFE Clearing Corporation (SFECC) will provide central counter-party clearing i.e. trades are carried out with SFECC and not with the original party to the trade. The positions are managed by SFECC via the established margining system currently used by the global futures market.

Traders and investors can look forward to the benefits conferred by Exchange Traded Cfds.

By: Andrew Winthorp

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Find out more about the features and benefits of exchange traded contracts for difference