Exchange of the year: Ice

David Peniket

Arguably the biggest over-the-counter derivatives trade of 2013 closed in mid-November, following roughly a year of work: Ice’s $8.2 billion acquisition of NYSE Euronext. The deal brings Ice’s commodity markets together with the equity trading hub that is the New York Stock Exchange, but the real opportunity may lie in London-based Liffe. Its 24 million-contract pool of open interest in Libor, Euribor and UK government bond futures gives Ice critical mass in the interest rate futures space,