American Financial Exchange (AFX) Announces Two-Year Anniversary Highlights

CHICAGO, Dec. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- American Financial Exchange (AFX), an electronic interbank lending market focused on U.S. small and mid-sized banks, announced today the second anniversary of its electronic trading platform. AFX facilitates the determination of Ameribor^®, a transaction-based interest rate benchmark for small- to mid-sized banks via its electronic trading platform.

Since opening, more than $100 billion cumulative has been successful transacted. Recently, daily volumes have averaged approximately $350 million with several days of volume highs over $500 million principal traded.

Since AFX opened on December 11, 2015, membership has grown from six banks to 68 institutions (60 banks and 8 non-banks) as of December 12, 2017. AFX has a presence in 35 states and Puerto Rico, representing financial institutions with under $150 billion in assets.

For the purpose of expanding liquidity, AFX has extended its membership beyond banks to also include broker-dealers, private equity firms, business development corporations (BDCs), hedge funds, futures commission merchants (FCMs), insurance companies, asset managers and finance companies. 

AFX publishes its Ameribor^® rate on the website www.ameribor.net. Ameribor^® is an interbank interest rate reflecting the borrowing costs of U.S. small- and mid-sized banks. The rate is calculated using a 30-day rolling average of the weighted average daily volume in the AFX overnight unsecured market.  The rate is denoted as a 360-day annualized percentage rate up to the fifth decimal.

David Greiwe, Senior Vice President and Treasurer at MB Financial, one of AFX's founding participants said: "Ameribor^® is a tool to provide transparency in pricing for both banks and our customers. The dissemination of this rate can really help mid-sized banks, their customers and local economies. We are proud to be a founding participant of AFX and plan to use the Ameribor^® rate when pricing our loans."

Rodney Rushing, Executive Vice President at ServisFirst Bank in Alabama said: "ServisFirst is proud to be a founder and active participant of AFX. The goal of the exchange is to serve the needs of community-focused financial institutions and create a more efficient way to conduct business. AFX is a market-based solution that adds transparency and efficiencies to both short term borrowings and employing liquidity that traditionally was a one-on-one inefficient market. There is clearly a need and AFX fills that need."

Dr. Richard L. Sandor, Chairman and CEO of AFX said: "Small- and mid-sized banks in our country play a critical role in job creation, and in supporting local communities and our regional economies. Ameribor^® – a rate based on transparent, real transactions on a regulated exchange - is meant to better represent the unique characteristics of those banks and their customers, so that the real cost of borrowing is properly represented."

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe) has played a key role in the development of AFX by bringing the benefits of exchange trading—including standardization, transparency and a rules-based process—to interbank lending, while substantially reducing transaction costs through an electronic market. Cboe operates the web-accessible, secure, electronic trade matching engine and also supports surveillance and membership services.

Andy Lowenthal, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Derivatives at Cboe, said: "We congratulate AFX on its two-year anniversary and are pleased with its accomplishments to date, including record volumes this year, the launch of its Ameribor^® interest rate benchmark, and the steady growth of its membership. Cboe looks forward to continuing our support of this innovative platform."

About American Financial Exchange:
The American Financial Exchange (AFX) is a self-regulated exchange that provides a transparent, centralized and rules-based electronic marketplace to allow for small and mid-sized American banks to meet their interbank funding needs. AFX seeks to offer a suite of innovative products that improve transparency and efficiency in the current interbank loans marketplace. AFX will also facilitate the determination of a market-based interest rate benchmark for small-to medium-sized banks called Ameribor^®. For additional information on AFX, visit www.theafex.com.

Contact: Rafael Marques, AFX (312) 554-3384 [email protected]

SOURCE American Financial Exchange (AFX)

Related Links

http://www.theafex.com/