FINEX, the Dublin futures exchange, is looking at the possibility of introducing a futures product based on the Dublin ISEQ equity index, as well as restarting the now defunct Irish Futures and Options Exchange (IFOX) bond and interest rate futures exchange.
Mr Colman Candy, who has been promoted to managing director by the US owned exchange, said over $500 million (£322 million) a day was now being traded on the floor, while business was up 50 per cent a year. At the same time, the price of a seat has almost trebled from 59,000 to over $25,000.
Mr Charles Minnaar, senior vice president marketing, of Finex's parent, the New York Cotton Exchange, said it was also very keen to attract more Irish individuals to set up as traders.
Mr Candy said one of the brokers in the exchange was doing a feasibility study into the viability of an "open outcry" futures product based on Irish interest rates and bonds in conjunction with Finex.
Open outcry is where the traders stand in a pit and shout and use hand signals to make bids and offers to the rest of the traders in the pit. It can often seem like mass confusion but, in practice, is a very efficient way to conduct an auction. IFOX, when it was in operation, was an electronic operation and volumes were low.
Mr Candy believes that the open outcry system could add vibrancy and dynamism to the trading of Irish bonds and interest rate futures.
Even without the addition of IFOX, the exchange is set to expand into a raft of new currency contracts.
