Turkish Derivatives Exchange

Turkish Derivatives Exchange(TurkDex)
Headquarters	Izmir, Turkey
Key People	Chairman, Isinsu Kestelli; CEO, Çetin Ali Dönmez
Products	Currency, interest rate, commodity and equity index futures
Twitter	@VOBTURKDEX
Website	www.turkdex.org.tr

The electronic TurkDEX exchange, also known by its local acronym VOB, trades listed futures contracts in four Turkish asset classes - equity, forex, interest rates and commodities. TurkDEX has been one of the world's fastest-growing derivatives exchanges in recent years to become a top 30 global exchange.

TurkDEX gained access to the U.S. market in August 2010, when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission allowed the exchange to offer trading in futures on the Istanbul Stock Exchange 30 Stock Index (ISE 30), also see (TurkDEX-ISE 30 Futures).

TurkDEX ranked as the world's 30th-largest derivatives exchange by volume in 2012. According to the Futures Industry Association's March 2013 volume report, the total amount of futures and options traded on the exchange was about 62.5 million contracts.

Background

TurkDEX was registered as a business in July 2001 and began derivatives trading operations in February 2005 under the regulation of the Turkish Capital Markets Board (CMB), after previous attempts to trade derivatives on the Istanbul Stock Exchange and the Istanbul Gold Exchange had failed. The exchange's clearing and settlement is provided by Takasbank, a former unit of the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

The TurkDEX has expanded its business significantly in recent years. Its Turkish lira/U.S. dollar contract was the industry's fastest growing foreign currency contract in 2006, with volumes rising 304.7 percent to 1.1 million contracts. and TurkDEX was ranked the world's fastest-growing derivative instruments market in 2006 with a 273 percent increase. Foreign investors' share in TurkDEX aggregate transaction volume was said to be 30 percent in 2008.

In October 2009 TurkDEX became a member of the Futures Industry Association (FIA), in tune with its aim of becoming more closely integrated with the global derivatives market. In the FIA's ranking of global derivatives exchanges for the first half of 2009, TurkDEX ranked as the world's third-fastest growing exchange, an exchange press release noted. In the same month TurkDEX got the green light from US derivatives-trading regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to offer Turkish futures contracts to US traders and investors.

Ownership

TurkDEX's largest shareholder with 25 percent is also Turkey's largest business group - the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, followed by the country's two most prominent securities exchanges - the Istanbul Stock Exchange with 18 percent and the Izmir Mercantile Exchange at 17 percent. These three together hold a 60% stake in TurkDEX - the remaining 40% is held in small stakes mainly by banks and brokers. These include Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi (6 percent) and The Association of Capital Market Intermediary Institutions of Turkey (6 percent).

Key people

Isinsu Kestelli has served as chairperson of the board of TurkDex since August 2007 and was recently also elected to the chair of the Izmir Commodity Exchange after six years as deputy chair of that exchange. She is an international vegetable oil trader and founding partner of Agriling Agricultural Products Ltd.

TurkDEX CEO Çetin Ali Dönmez has been in the job since April 2008 and had earlier been appointed director of risk management at the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE). He began his trading career at the Istanbul Stock Exchange in 1993 and has also worked at the ISE's spun-off clearinghouse, Takasbank.

Key products

Contracts include futures on Turkish government bonds (91 and 365-day T-bills), futures linked to the Istanbul Stock Exchange's ISE-30 and ISE-100 indexes, currency pairs (Turkish lira against the euro and the U.S. dollar) and two commodity futures: Anatolian red wheat and Aegean cotton). Contracts with MarketsWiki links are listed below:

• TurkDEX TRYUSDollar Futures
• TurkDEX TRYEuro Futures
• TurkDEX 91 Day T-Bill Futures. This contract no longer trades.
• TurkDEX 365 Day T-Bill Futures. This contract no longer trades.
• TurkDEX T-Benchmark Futures
• TurkDEX-ISE 30 Futures
• TurkDEX-ISE 100 Futures
• TurkDEX Cotton Futures
• TurkDEX Wheat Futures
• TurkDEX Gold Futures
• Turkdex Euro/ Dollar Cross Currency Futures
• Physically Delivered Turkdex TRYUSDollar Futures Contract
• Physically Delivered Turkdex TRYEuro Futures Contract
• Turkdex–ISE 30-100 Index Spread Futures Contract
• Turkdex USDollar/Ounce Gold Futures Contract
• Turkdex Base Load Electricity Futures
• Physically Deliverable Live Cattle Futures

Recent history

• In September 2011, TurkDEX served as the host exchange for the first-ever, Turkish Derivatives Conference, a country-focused event jointly organized by the Futures Industry Association, and the Institute for Financial Markets, a nonprofit foundation and an independent affiliate of the FIA.

• In August 2010, TurkDEX received CFTC approval to offer TurkDEX-ISE 30 Futures in the U.S.

TurkDEX is currently awaiting anticipated final approval from regulator the Turkish Capital Markets Board (SPK) to allow it to trade single stock futures in the ISE's main blue chip equities. Excitement over expected new trading volume has been tempered somewhat by speculation that the ISE was seeking greater ownership of TurkDEX and considering moving the exchange from its present location at the Aegean Sea port of Izmir to Instanbul, Turkey's financial capital.

Annual Volumes

Year	Total Annual Volume	Percent Change	World Ranking
2012	62,474,464	(-) 15.9%	30
2011	74,287,630	(+) 16.2%	27
2010	63,952,177	(-) 19.5%	26
2009	79,431,343	--	--

2009

TurkDEX ranked number 24 in 2009 in the Futures Industry Association's global list of top 53 derivatives exchanges measured by volume, up 45.8% on 2008. The FIA list, published in early April 2010, reports that TurkDEX's total volume for 2009 rose to 79.4 million from 2008's figure of 54.4 million.