Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion

Eurex and Deutsche Börse

The Frankfurt derivatives exchange that proved a screen could beat a trading floor. Its predecessor, the all-electronic Deutsche Terminbörse (DTB), began trading on 26 Jan 1990 (Deutsche Börse company history). Between 1990 and 1998 it took the Euro-Bund future (on 10-year German government bonds) away from London's open-outcry LIFFE. It merged with the Swiss SOFFEX to form Eurex in 1998, then made the Euro Stoxx 50 future and option Europe's benchmark equity-index contracts. Its owner, Deutsche Börse AG, listed in Frankfurt on 5 Feb 2001. Deutsche Börse twice tried to merge with a rival exchange group and was blocked twice by the European Commission: with NYSE Euronext on 1 Feb 2012, and with the London Stock Exchange Group on 29 Mar 2017. In 2025 Eurex traded 2,065.9m contracts (−1% on 2024): 1,045.6m interest-rate, 699.7m index and 309.0m equity derivatives (Deutsche Börse, 9 Jan 2026). For a US trader, Eurex is the European version of CME Group: a vertical silo that lists its contracts and clears them in its own clearing house, Eurex Clearing. It is also the venue for European index options, including EURO STOXX 50 daily options since 28 Aug 2023. This profile takes the trading angle. The KB has no Finance profile of Deutsche Börse; its deals appear in Finance: Intercontinental Exchange and Finance: Nasdaq.

At a glance

Founded: DTB: company formed 1988 (single secondary source, verify); trading from 26 Jan 1990. Deutsche Börse AG: founded Dec 1992, when it took over all shares of DTB. Eurex: founded Jun 1998 by merging DTB and SOFFEX. Eurex Clearing AG: founded Apr 1998 (all from Deutsche Börse company history). Joint trading reportedly began 28 Sep 1998 (secondary, verify)
Headquarters: Eschborn and Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Eurex Zürich in Switzerland (the former SOFFEX side), wholly owned by Deutsche Börse since Jan 2012, when it bought out SIX Group
Ownership / structure: Deutsche Börse AG is listed (DAX; IPO 5 Feb 2001 at €335 a share, followed by a 1:10 split). Eurex Frankfurt AG runs the exchange; Eurex Clearing AG is the central counterparty, licensed under EMIR (Apr 2014)
Leadership (2026): Stephan Leithner, Deutsche Börse CEO (co-CEO from 1 Oct 2024, sole CEO from Jan 2025). Michael Peters, Eurex CEO; Erik Müller, Eurex Clearing CEO (FOW, Sep 2023; verify for 2026)
Exchange and clearing: Eurex Exchange runs on the T7 trading system (migration completed Jun 2013). Eurex Clearing clears listed derivatives, OTC interest-rate swaps, repo and securities. Eurex Repo runs GC Pooling. In the group: EEX (energy), 360T (FX, bought 2015 for €725m), STOXX (indices, 100% from Jul 2015 for CHF 650m)
Products traders use: Euro-Bund, Euro-Bobl, Euro-Schatz and Euro-Buxl futures and options (German government debt at the 10-, 5-, 2- and 30-year points); EURO STOXX 50 futures (FESX) and options (OESX); EURO STOXX 50 daily options (OEXP, from 28 Aug 2023); DAX futures and options, including Mini-DAX; single-stock futures and options; Euribor and €STR futures; total-return futures; Eurex Repo
Scale (dated): 2025: 2,065.9m contracts (−1%); OTC clearing notional outstanding €43,668bn (+31%); Eurex Repo average daily term-adjusted volume €406.1bn (+20%) (Deutsche Börse, 9 Jan 2026). Aug 2026: 144.4m contracts (+14%) (Eurex monthly statistics). Deutsche Börse 2025: net revenue excluding the treasury result ~€5.2bn (+9%), EBITDA excluding treasury ~€2.7bn (+14%), both records (Deutsche Börse, 11 Feb 2026)
Regulators: BaFin and the Hessian Exchange Supervisory Authority (exchange); BaFin and the Bundesbank (Eurex Clearing, a credit institution); ESMA under EMIR and MiFID II/MiFIR; FINMA for Eurex Zürich; the CFTC (Eurex Clearing is a registered derivatives clearing organization for US clients — from memory, verify); the European Commission on mergers and competition
Signature moves (incl. failures): DTB's all-electronic launch (1990); the Battle of the Bund (1990–98); the DTB–SOFFEX merger and Eurex Clearing (1998); Euro Stoxx 50 as Europe's benchmark (1998–); Eurex US and the ISE detour (2004–16); the two blocked mergers (2012, 2017); daily options (2023–26)

7 strategic moves analysed

Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.

1990
DTB All Electronic Launch
Founding / technology bet (an exchange with no trading floor)
1997
Battle of the Bund
Market-structure bet: a rival listing of an incumbent's benchmark contract
1998
DTB SOFFEX Merger Forms Eurex
Merger / cross-border exchange
1998
Euro Stoxx 50 Derivatives and Eurex Clearing
New product (a pan-European benchmark index contract) and clearing build-out
2004
Eurex US and the ISE Detour
New market entry (failure) / acquisition and sale
2012
Blocked Mergers NYSE Euronext and LSE
Acquisition or merger, blocked by regulator
2023
Daily Options and Short Dated Euro Stoxx
Exchange product change: short-dated and same-day (0DTE) index options

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