The Eurex exchange issued a challenge to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) when it recently announced it would begin offering currency derivatives.  The market for currency futures, options, swaps, and forwards is currently the fastest growing segment of the overall forex market.  On average, $87 Billion worth of such derivatives are traded every day, and the Eurex intends to capture a share of this volume. The move will benefit investors and traders, through lower commissions, increased liquidity, and greater service. Both exchanges support 24-hour trading of forex products through separate electronic order-entry systems. The Eurex will continue to support the trading of spot contracts (real-time foreign exchange), a market it currently shares with Reuters.  The Financial Times reports:

Users might, however, welcome an alternative to the Merc’s dominance, a pattern that has a precedent in the forex industry when EBS, the interdealer platform, was set up in the 1990s by a group of banks to balance the growing dominance of Reuters.

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