Block Trade Facility

The Block Trade Facility (BTF) is an off-market trading mechanism enabling professional market users to arrange and transact orders of significant size in specified contracts. Such an arrangement minimises the price impact and time delays that may occur when transacting orders of large size in the central market.

Availability of the BTF

Contract

Minimum Threshold
(applies to each
leg of the trade)

ASX 30 Day Interbank Cash Rate Futures (All months except the spot month) (Night session only)           
Second expiry month

 1.500 lots

All other Contract months

 500 lots

ASX 90 Day Bank Bill Futures (All Contract months) (Night Session Only)         
Spot month only 

 1,500 lots

All other Contract months 

 750 lots

ASX 3 Year Treasury Bond Futures (Spot Month Only) (Night Session Only) 

2,000 lots

ASX 10 Year Treasury Bond Futures (Spot Month Only) (Night Session Only)

750 lots

ASX 3 Year Interest Rate Swap Futures (Spot Month Only) (Night session Only)

 500 lots

ASX 10 Year Interest Rate Swap Futures (Spot Month Only) (Night Session Only) 

 250 lots

ASX SPI 200 Index Futures (Spot Month Only)

200 lots

ASX New Zealand 30 Day Official Cash Rate Futures (All Contract months)
50 lots
ASX 3 Year New Zealand Government Stock Futures (All Contract months)

100 lots

ASX 10 Year New Zealand Government Stock Futures (All Contract months)

50 lots

d-cyphaTrade ASX Australian Electricity Futures (All Contract months)

25 lots

d-cyphaTrade ASX Australian Electricity Options (All Contract months)

25 lots

d-cyphaTrade ASX Australian Electricity Cap Futures (All Contract months)

25 lots

d-cyphaTrade ASX Australian Electricity Strip Options (All Contract months)                                   

25 lots

ASX New Zealand Electricity Futures (All Contract months)

5 lots

ASX New Zealand Electricity Strip Options (All Contract months)

5 lots

ASX Victorian Wholesale Gas Futures (All Contract months) 

5 lots

ASX Renewable Energy Certificate Futures (All Contract months)             

 5 lots

ASX Grain Futures (All Commodities)

 500 lots

ASX Grain Options (All Commodities)

 200 lots

Benefits of the BTF

  • Flexible order arrangement - Pre-arrangement, disclosure and withholding stipulations do not apply to orders arranged under BTF rules. The facilitating ASX 24 Participant therefore has maximum flexibility to bring large orders to market.
  • Price certainty - Block Trades can be transacted at any price agreed between counterparties. Block Trades may therefore legitimately occur at prices different to the prevailing price of a contract in ASX Trade24 at the time. Volume-Weighted-Average-Price (VWAP) and market-on-close trading is also permitted.
  • Execution certainty - Block Trades will be approved by the Exchange as long as they occur in prescribed contracts and do not contravene the business rules of the BTF.
  • Extended disclosure period - All Block Trades, with the exception of those conducted in the energy and environmental products, are disclosed to the market by the Exchange from 9:30am on the following business morning. This provision enables brokers facilitating Block Trades to unwind their risk prior to the market reacting to the large trade.  Block Trades in the energy and environmental products ar disclosed immediately to the market after approval by the Exchange.
  • Extended trading hours - Block Trades may be transacted up to ten minutes after the regular ASX Trade24 market is closed. This is a practical consideration to allow Block Trades to occur that are conditional upon a closing futures price; for example, a market-on-close order.
  • Use of the BTF for roll business - To continue to support the liquid quarterly roll market on ASX Trade24, use of the BTF to execute roll business in whatever form, be it partially or wholly, will be specifically prohibited.

Block Trades do not affect open/high/low/close/volume information in the ASX Trade24 market. However, Block Trade volumes will be included in all Exchange market data reporting.

More information on Block Trading

  1. Block Trade Facility - Key Information
  2. Block Trade Facility - Minimum Thresholds
  3. Q&A for Block Trade Facility
  4. Executing ASX 24 Participants (PDF)
  5. Block Trade Facility Trader Procedures - A Summary (PDF)
  6. Night Session Block Trade Facility Full Participant Procedures - A Summary (PDF 23KB)
  7. Monthly Traded EFP & BTF Volumes (XLS)