USD- and other Foreign Currency Denominated-Securities

The Luxembourg Stock Exchange is a major international listing center for international bonds, equities, and investment funds that allows for the listing and trading of international bonds in their issuing currencies. At the end of 2004, bonds accounted for 73.6% of total securities listed on the exchange. Euro and US dollar issues accounted for 51.3% and 31.8% of listed bonds, respectively. Membership and trading on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange are limited to credit institutions or investment firms that comply with the rules and regulations of the exchange.

Some information vendors such as Bloomberg and Reuters, and Internet portals such as Bondweb, offer bond trading platforms specializing in physical issues. These cater to all classes of US dollar securities and can include Asian sovereign and corporate issues. Over-the-counter (OTC) trades also occur, primarily for transactions involving retail investors.

For US dollar interest rate futures and options markets, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) are the leading exchanges. CME's Globex and CBOT's e-cbot are the exchanges' respective electronic trading platforms.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is an affiliate of CME with fungible interest rate contracts. SGX is the principal US dollar futures trading center in the Asia–Pacific region.

Local Currency Securities

Currently, no comprehensive regional trading system exists for trading physical issues. Local currency bonds are traded on the exchanges of Indonesia, Japan, People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, and Thailand. Information on market specific trading systems can be found at the individual market home pages.

There are local currency futures markets in Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore. There are also plans to launch a bond futures contract in Thailand. Market specific rules and regulations, including contract specifications, can be found at the individual market home pages.