The Montreal Exchange wants to make its derivative products better known abroad. Since Monday, it has now been open almost all day to enhance its presence with Asian investors.
Monday’s session therefore began at 8 p.m. Sunday, or 9 a.m. Monday morning Tokyo time in Japan, and ended at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Montreal time. About 3000 contracts were negotiated for this first day “during Asian hours”, specifies Luc Fortin, President and CEO of the Montreal Stock Exchange.
“We were the only platform for countries derived from G7 countries that did not have opening hours of more than 20 hours,” said Mr. Fortin in an interview. We were apart from the group. Despite that, we were able to develop our market, but not to its full potential. “
The announcement is part of the offensive led by TMX Group, the owner of the Montreal Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange, to enhance its international offering. In 2018, the Montreal financial center extended its schedule to local London time. The extension to Asian time was the next step.
This first change to the schedule caught the interest of international customers. “Shortly after, we realized that between 6% and 10% of the average daily activity was generated by these European hours. There was also a portion of about two hours that coincided with the opening hours in Asia and we saw an interest. “
Mr. Fortin hopes that between 15% and 25% of the average daily activity is generated by the extended hours.
Having a presence in Asia will also help promote Canadian financial markets, known to be concentrated in energy and commodities. However, Canadian markets have changed dramatically recently. The number of publicly traded companies in the technology sector now exceeds the mining sector, said Fortin, who is also head of global trading activities for TMX Group. “We want to tell this story. “
The internationalization of activities is good news for the TMX Group subsidiary, located in downtown Montreal, believes Mr. Fortin. He pointed out that the extension of bargaining hours will create 12 new jobs, located in Montreal. TMX Group hires close to 270 people in Montreal.
When TSX Group acquired the Montreal Stock Exchange in 2008, voices were raised fearing a relocation of expertise to Toronto. Today’s announcement shows that the Montreal Stock Exchange continues to stand out in its area of expertise, namely derivatives, according to the leader who took office in 2016. “We are not the poor little brother. We take our place at the table. “
Among the products developed in Montreal recently, Mr. Fortin gives the example of options on certain cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the creation of ESG indices and futures contracts on 30-year government bonds.
“Derivatives is truly a growth gem for TMX Group and it has been for many exchanges. We have experienced tremendous growth for almost 10 years. “
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