BGC Group Launches FMX to Compete with CME in US Treasuries, Reports Reuters

By Laura Matthews

Brokerage BGC Group announced the launch of its FMX Futures Exchange on Tuesday, marking another effort by billionaire Howard Lutnick to compete with CME Group and enhance competition in the U.S. Treasury market.

The newly launched exchange allows clients to trade Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) futures, with U.S. Treasury futures expected to be introduced in the first quarter of 2025.

BGC claims that FMX will provide "significant capital savings" as a result of its collaboration with LCH Limited, which is an approved derivative clearing organization and a major clearer of interest rate swaps. LCH currently secures $225 billion in interest rate swap collateral, and its members anticipate being able to cross-margin eligible U.S. interest rate futures traded on FMX against these swaps.

Earlier this year, BGC disclosed that ten top investment banks and market-making firms—including Bank of America, Citadel Securities, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase—invested in FMX, giving the exchange a valuation of $667 million.

BGC received regulatory approval to operate the futures exchange in January.