Russell 2000 Index is on the Move Again: Leaves ICE and Returns to CME

Moving a futures contract, or a family of contracts, from one exchange to another requires a great deal of preparation, lead time and cooperation from all the constituents involved. New products needed to be loaded to trading systems; reconciliation tools and file transfer protocols needed to be tested; and settlement and clearing platforms required updates. Most importantly, since there is no fungibility or direct transfer capabilities to simply move positions from ICE to CME, traders are required to enter into a risk-based trade to move their positions. I am guessing that most people are like me and don’t really like change, so CME published a comprehensive video to help customers through the transition.

At the end of the day, the transition of the Russell products from ICE to CME was a success. This market note will provide some history around the Russell products and journey that led them back to the CME. We also illustrate volume trends and show how open interest quickly shifted in late August and early September. Only time will tell if this was a wise move for FTSE Russell but if initial volume and open interest are any indication FTSE Russell on CME has gotten off to a strong start together