FINEX

What Was the FINEX (Financial Instruments Exchange)?

FINEX (the Financial Instruments Exchange) was the financial instruments and currency products division of the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT). It listed and traded various currency (forex) derivatives such as futures and options on futures.

FINEX was established in 1985 due to the rapid emergence of the financial derivatives sector. FINEX was acquired by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and the last in-person FINEX trading session took place on Thursday, June 28, for Friday, June 29, 2007.

Understanding the FINEX

The New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE)—established in 1870—primarily traded cotton but also traded orange juice, stock indexes, and currencies. FINEX (Financial Instruments Exchange) was the financial division of NYCE and in 1994 created FINEX Europe in Dublin, Ireland, as a complementary trading office in Europe.

The CSCE (Coffee, Sugar, and Cocoa Exchange) was created in a previous merger between the Coffee and Sugar Exchange and the New York Cocoa Exchange. The CSCE traded coffee, sugar, cocoa, and milk products.

In 1998, the NYCE (New York Cotton Exchange) and the CSCE (Coffee, Sugar, and Cocoa Exchange) merged, forming the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT). The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) was acquired by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in 2007, bringing together the previous exchanges and subsidiaries all under one company, including FINEX.

The FINEX moniker has largely disappeared and has been subsumed by other ICE divisions. The Intercontinental Exchange has dual headquarters and trading facilities in Atlanta, GA, and in New York City's financial district.

The Intercontinental Exchange

The Intercontinental Exchange, known as the ICE, began in 2000 as an electronic platform for trading energy futures and options. It owns stock, commodities, futures, and options exchanges in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Singapore. ICE bought the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2013 for $11 billion. The ICE now holds on to and controls the remnants of the NYBOT and its FINEX division.

ICE's other holdings include NYSE ARCA and the American Stock Exchange. ICE also operates five central clearinghouses: ICE Clear U.S., ICE Clear Europe, ICE Clear Singapore, ICE Clear Credit, and ICE Clear Netherlands.

ICE became a publicly traded company on November 16, 2005, under the ticker symbol ICE, and since then has become a member of the S&P 500 and Russell 1000 Index.

Today, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) provides trading, clearing, and risk management for various global markets. ICE is also involved in streamlining fixed income and data services and digitizing the mortgage process to reduce costs.