OptAxe, the centralised trading platform focused on FX options, has been granted authorisation by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to operate as a multilateral trading facility (MTF). This approval marks the completion of a two-year process, allowing OptAxe to provide an innovative solution for axe-driven FX options trading. The platform aims to address key challenges in the market, such as lack of transparency, fragmented pricing, and inefficiencies in bilateral trading processes.
By centralising and automating the distribution of FX options axes, OptAxe aims to improve price discovery, execution quality, and overall market efficiency. The platform is fully operational and offers diverse connectivity options, including Web GUI and APIs like FIX and REST, enhancing access to liquidity and streamlining trade execution for market participants.
Chris Jackson, CEO and Co-Founder of OptAxe, commented: “We set out to bring much-needed innovation to the FX options market, improve liquidity discovery and unlock previously untapped trading opportunities. OptAxe is a fully centralised, regulated venue for liquidity discovery, dissemination and execution that empowers trading participants with actionable insights from centralised liquidity information. We automate manual, bilateral processes and consolidate available axe inventory into a single platform, effectively acting as a multi-issuer, not a multi-dealer platform, RFQ-based venue”.
Yorke O’Leary, COO and Co-Founder of OptAxe, added: “Securing FCA approval to operate a regulated MTF for FX options trading is a significant milestone for OptAxe and represents a step-change in how the industry operates. Globally, capital costs are rising and market participants urgently need to access, recycle and clear more FX options risk, whilst still facing inefficient distribution practices, complex price discovery methods and expensive execution outcomes. With OptAxe, all market participants can easily access a centralised source of actionable axe inventory with evidence-based pricing that meets the demands of the trading community today and tomorrow.”
Subscribe to our newsletter
