Fewer options in 2001 | A Risk survey

The foreign exchange options market cooled off significantly last year, as September 11 and lower forex volatility kept dealers away. Risk’s third annual survey of 13 large forex options houses reveals that their combined 2001 volumes fell by $1.1 trillion. But barriers bucked the trend, nearly doubling in volume from the previous year

The events of September 11 coupled with fewer mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals and a drop in foreign exchange volatility made 2001 a depressed year for the foreign exchange options market. Risk’s third annual forex options survey shows a decline of $1.1 trillion in options volumes over 12 currency pairs among the 13 dealers that participated in the survey. Volumes dropped from $13,011 billion in 2000 to $11,876 billion in 2001. A further $199 billion of forex options was traded on other