FX HedgePool, the matching engine for mid-market execution of FX swaps, has launched a new monthly, mid-month, settlement date-based matching cycle that will anchor to the third Wednesday of each month.

The firm says this creates a more frequent cycle that aligns with the familiar quarterly IMM (International Monetary Market) maturity dates. The first transactions matched involved FX HedgePool’s newest member, a European pension administrator.

The new matching cycle complements FX HedgePool’s already established trade date-based month-end matching event, and will provide a standardised settlement date in the middle of the month. It says this will enable the buy-side to more readily supply liquidity to each other, helping to mitigate risks of tracking error, while eliminating the unnecessary costs of market impact by naturally offsetting positions among peers.

Last March, FX HedgePool added a quarterly cycle in line with the standard IMM dates to its matching engine to address growing interest in passive hedgers who roll their positions on a quarterly cycle.

“Even though an abundance of passive hedging occurs on one day at month-end, we’ve seen significant interest for a mid-month roll cycle,” says Jay Moore, CEO and co-founder of FX HedgePool. “By introducing this new cycle, we’re offering the buy-side greater choice with respect to accessing safe and transparent pools of peer liquidity.”