Bahrain exchange cumulative trading turnover crosses $50b mark

The Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX), the first multi-asset exchange in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, has said its total cumulative trading turnover crossed the USD 50 billion mark on February 1 this year. The total trading volume has also increased to over 4 million contracts, it said. According to a BFX statement, the compounded monthly growth rate of the BFX trading volume for the period between December 2011 and January 2013 stood at 69 percent per month. The BFX Futures are currently available on the USD Dollar versus the Indian Rupee (USD-INR) currency pair, Euro and the US Dollar (EUR-USD) comparison and Gold, Silver and Natural Gas. Other innovative products in the pipeline include the BFX MCX Dollar Gold and Silver Futures as well as Options contracts on the USD-INR currency pair. To clear and settle the financial instruments traded by the members of the BFX, the exchange has set up the BFX Clearing and Depository Corporation (BCDC) The BFX and the BCDC are licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).