Cboe Clear Europe adds crypto-backed ETPs to clearing offering

By Cboe - Sunday, 04 May 2025

The move forms part of the clearinghouse’s drive to offer clearing across a range of asset classes and follows the recent launch of Cboe’s European SFTs clearing service in March 2025.

Global growth is forecast to slow to 2.3% in 2025, slipping below the 2.5% threshold often associated with a global recession, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in its latest report. This marks a sharp deceleration compared to already sluggish pre-pandemic growth rates.

UNCTAD warns that rising uncertainty is weighing heavily on the global economy. Trade tensions are escalating, with recent tariff hikes undermining predictability. Rising fragmentation, if left unchecked, could deepen the downturn.

Trade and financial turbulence intensify amid policy uncertainty

Trade policy uncertainty, now at historic highs, is eroding business confidence and reshaping global trade patterns. Manufacturers and investors are delaying decisions, reassessing supply chain strategies and stepping up risk management efforts.

After a temporary surge at the end of 2024, merchandise trade momentum is fading, with the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index dropping by 40% between January and March 2025, falling back to pre-pandemic levels.

Record-high economic policy uncertainty is also fuelling financial turbulence. In early 2025, the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index reached its highest level this century, surpassing peaks during the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Concerns over economic policy shifts reach highest level this century

Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, index numbers, average 1997–2014=100, February 2016 – January 2025

Source: Davis (2016) with updated data from Economic Policy Uncertainty (accessed on 27 March 2025).

Note: The Economic Policy Uncertainty Index is calculated monthly based on three underlying components, including the newspaper coverage of policy-related economic uncertainty, data from the Congressional Budget Office and data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Survey of Professional Forecasters. The index is benchmarked against the mean of 100 from 1997 to 2015. Data ends on 31 December 2024.

Get the dataDownload image

In early April, markets saw sharp corrections and heavy losses after weeks of volatility. The so-called financial “fear index” – a gauge of US stock market volatility – reached its third-highest level on record, behind only the peaks seen during the pandemic and global financial crisis.