Cross & Pre-arranged Trades

A cross trade is a trade where a member trades against an own order in the order book. In a pre-arranged trade, orders from at least two members are executed against each other as previously negotiated. Cross and pre-arranged trades may not knowingly be entered into the Eurex® system by a member, unless the member precedes the cross or pre-arranged trade with a cross request. A market member is required to enter a cross request to inform the market of his intention to execute a cross or pre-arranged trade. As soon as a cross request is entered into the Eurex® system, all market participants have the opportunity to enter corresponding orders (or quotes, depending on the product and the status of the market participant).

After entering a cross request, the initiating market member must enter the matching orders (or quotes, depending on the product and the status of the market member). Orders must be entered within a certain time frame: there is a minimum amount of time the market member has to wait before entering matching orders/quotes, and there is also a maximum amount of time the market member can wait before the cross request expires. Both of these time periods are specified by the exchange. The orders are also subject to a minimum quantity based on the size of the original cross request, further limited by the minimum quote size (for options) or five contracts (for futures).

The exchange may also stipulate at any time a maximum size for a cross trade.

Cross requests are possible for both options and futures; combination cross requests can only be entered for futures. For option combinations, cross requests must be entered in the respective legs.

Cross requests for strategies are supported.