The securities repurchase agreement markets of the derivatives exchange Eurex continued to grow in the first quarter of this year. The average outstanding volume and the number of trading participants continued to increase.
At the end of March 2005, the average outstanding volume on Eurex Repo was EUR59.5 billion (US$ 76.44 billion), 39% up on the same month last year. The Euro Repo market saw particularly strong growth, increasing by 76% to EUR21.4 billion (US$ 27.49 billion), from EUR12.1 billion (US$ 15.55 billion) at the end of March 2004. The Swiss Franc (CHF) Repo market also experienced solid growth. The average outstanding volume was up 24% year-on-year to CHF 38.1 billion. The Swiss national bank (SNB) controls the Swiss Franc money market policy in Switzerland via the CHF Repo market.
The number of participants on Eurex Repo also grew. Three more banks and financial services providers joined the CHF Repo market. A total of 159 banks from nine countries now trade on the Eurex Repo.
Eurex Repo also reported positive results from the launch of the new Euro GC Pooling segment on March 17. From the first day, Repo participants were active on the new segment. With the new Euro GC Pooling segment, Eurex Repo offers cash-driven, international trading of a General Collateral Basket with over 9,000 ECB-eligible fixed-income securities, for the first time in Europe. Eurex Repo can increase the efficiency in the trading and collateral management of secured money market transactions, and can help repo market participants optimize their use of collateral.