Should the ASX be threatened by Cboe Australia? And will a potential SGX takeover make a difference?

Many investors may not have heard of Cboe Australia, or even known what it does. That all may be about to change. Yes, there have been rumours that Singapore’s Exchange (the SGX) could take it over. But whether that happens or not, an ASIC decision happened a couple of months ago that could have an even greater impact on Australia’s capital markets ecosystem. Namely, its ability to be an exchange in its own right.

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Who is Cboe Australia?

Cboe Australia is part of Cboe Global Markets which is a global exchange operator. Its name comes from the Chicago Board Options Exchange, which is where it began. Some investors may have heard of Chi-X Australia, which was launched in October 2011. This was Cboe’s doing, and it was rebranded in early 2022. The acquisition aimed to bring Cboe’s ‘global technology, product offerings and market infrastructure’ to Australia, enabling a more modern, low-latency venue for trading.

Cboe Australia has upgraded its presence over time and it would be unfair to say it is still a tiny fringe player. This exchange handles 20-25% of daily cash-equities trading volume in Australia, which is over $2bn a day. It also has a large presence in ETFs and “investment products” that are exclusive to Cboe such as warrants, certain funds that may not trade on ASX. We all know about the rise of ETFs, especially among younger investors.

It has also enabled investors to trade ASX stocks and ETFs.

A crucial step

And in October 2025, local regulator Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) approved Cboe Australia’s application to operate as a corporate listings venue — meaning for the first time, Cboe can host IPOs and new company listings in Australia.

The ability to compete with ASX for listing companies. Over the longer term, that could shift more primary-market activity (new floats) away from ASX to Cboe, especially for companies valuing flexibility, lower listing costs or perhaps superior technology.

We all know what a basketcase the CHESS replacement saga has been and the market outages (the most recent ones being earlier this week). But more than that, Cboe Australia appears to have improved performance, reliability, and scalability — which can make execution faster, cheaper, and more efficient (particularly for large or algorithmic trades).

Now of course, the ASX is still the default go-to venue. Cboe needs to build trust and visibility over time. Many brokers, fundies and investors have inertia and it will take a lot to get them to move. And there is also some uncertainty over Cboe’s ownership future, but this could be another asset to it.

A potential sale

A couple of months ago, the global parent company announced a strategic sale of its Australian (and Canadian) market businesses. There are media rumours that Singapore’s exchange could make a bid at it.

Some may remember the SGX tried to buy the ASX outright back in 2011, but the move was blocked by then Treasurer Wayne Swan on the basis it would be too risky for the country to not have full regulatory sovereignty over the holding company.

Now, any such deal would need ASIC’s approval. But we’d imagine this would be more likely to get up given any threat to competition would be more likely from a deal not going through, given the global parent company wants to sell the Australian division off.

If any foreign operator acquired Cboe Australia, it could use its regional reach to attract more foreign issuers and investors to list or trade in Australia via Cboe. That might increase liquidity and internationalise Australian markets, making it more attractive than ASX in some segments.

A well-backed regional exchange could invest in marketing, technology, services (e.g. derivatives, cross-border listing support), giving it more “muscle” to compete.

But for now, we can only speculate.

Conclusion

If you hadn’t heard of Cboe Australia, you should have by now, given it can now list companies in its own right. It is the case that the company’s investors need to decide on its future ownership, and this will tell which direction it will go in. But it is a threat in the way it would not have been even a few months ago.