Euronext.liffe To Launch Over 300 Universal Stock Futures On Bclear From 1 March 2006

Euronext.liffe, the international derivatives business of Euronext, today announced the launch of over 300 Universal Stock Futures (USFs) contracts on Bclear, its on–exchange administration and clearing service for wholesale equity derivatives, on 1 March 2006.

Following the best January on record since the launch of USFs, with over 1 million contracts traded, and over 4 million contracts traded on Bclear since its launch on 24 October 2005, this latest listing will provide market users with an unparalleled offering. Both futures and options contracts can now be traded on all of the underlyings available on Bclear.

Bclear is the only platform to offer customers both ‘standard’ and ‘flexible’ futures and options on over 300 European blue-chip underlying companies, allowing customers to execute their business in one single place at a much lower cost.

In addition, customers trading USFs through Bclear will benefit from a highly competitive new fee structure: the fee for trading all non-UK business will be €0.30 per lot with caps at €300 for proprietary business and €600 for business traded on behalf of their clients.

With USFs from 16 European countries, Bclear provides unrivalled coverage coupled with the combination of on-exchange security and off-exchange flexibility.

Euronext.liffe’s Chief Executive, Hugh Freedberg, said: “Since the launch last October, over four million contracts have been traded on Bclear. We are seeing new business from outside our traditional markets which shows our customers’ confidence in this innovative service. With the introduction of competitively priced USFs on Bclear we expect to see further growth.”

Neil Plumpton, Director of Structured Products at ICAP said: "Since their launch USFs have given investors much greater flexibility in managing their equity portfolios and we look forward to seeing them introduced on Bclear."