Totem adds to its interest rate valuations service

Totem Market Valuations, a provider of over-the-counter derivatives price information, is to expand its interest rate derivatives pricing service to include Swiss francs, Hong Kong dollars and Korean won. The products covered will be interest rate swaptions, caps and floors.

Totem already provides interest rate pricing information in euros, sterling, US dollars and yen. Tim Barker, chief executive, said: “Totem’s business provides greater coverage and granularity than that which is available from the [inter-dealer] brokers, with an emphasis on the quality of information.”

The trading activity of options brokers tends to focus on at-the-money levels, according to Barker. Totem aims to add value by using information from banks that have large options portfolios with varying out-of-the-money strikes and expiries that need to be price-checked. Barker said leading brokers such as Icap and Cantor Fitzgerald, which provide data services derived from their trading activities, are unable to supply this information.

Totem also supplies market data covering other OTC markets, including equity derivatives, foreign exchange options and commodities. Mark-it Partners, a credit market data provider, acquired Totem in May this year.