Frankfurt, Germany – April 15, 2002 – Eurex, the international derivatives market, announced today that it is now offering futures on the Dow Jones STOXX 600SM Bank and Dow Jones Euro STOXXSM Bank sector indices in the U.S. The U.S. regulatory agency, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), issued Eurex the appropriate "no-action letter" on April 2nd. This means that all of Eurex's U.S. participants can trade these contracts directly from the United States giving them broader access to the highest-volume, most liquid market for
European equity index derivatives. Eurex currently has 59 U.S. participants
Eurex is the dominant market for trading in derivatives on the European STOXX equity indices and currently has a market share of almost 100 percent. During the first quarter of 2002, Eurex turned over some 20 million STOXX contracts, more than twice the number traded during the first quarter of 2001. Eurex has already traded some 630,000 contracts in futures and options on the STOXX sector indices during the first quarter of 2002. Currently, the U.S. share of
trading in these index products amounts to approximately 25 percent.
"We welcome the CFTC's decision to allow our sector-index products in the U.Smarket," said Eurex CEO Rudolf Ferscha. "The U.S. market is a central component of our international sales strategy and an important growth market for Eurex." The "no-action letter" for the sector-index products shows the CFTC's openness, Eurex said in a statement on the decision. In particular,
the Commissioners, the Divisions involved and the new General Counsel of the CFTC had granted the request for "no-action relief" with a quick and favorable decision despite changes in the legal situation in the United States since the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 was enacted.
As a result of this decision by the U.S. regulatory agency, Eurex can expand its line of products for its American participants. At the same time, Eurex said, the liquidity in these products continues to rise, which underscores the benchmark status of the Eurex products in the European index products. The line of Eurex products tradable in the U.S now comprises the One- and Three-Month Euribor Future, as well as the options on the Three-Month Euribor Future, the interest-rate derivatives Euro-Schatz, Euro-Bobl and Euro-Bund Future and the options on these futures. In the equity indices segment, futures on the STOXX 50 and Euro STOXX 50 indices, as well as the futures on the Dow Jones STOXX 600SM Bank and Dow Jones Euro STOXXSM Bank sector indices are also tradable in the U.S., in addition to the DAX future. Eurex also indicated that further index products will be added to the existing line of products for offer and sale in the U.S. In the Eurex benchmark futures on the DAX and Euro STOXX 50, as well as on the capital market products Bund, Bobl and Schatz, the world's Number One derivatives market has already increased the U.S. share of its total turnover to some 25 percent.
Eurex media release
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