LIFFE trading system gains access to the United States

The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) welcomed the decision by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to issue a no-action letter on Friday 23 July permitting LIFFE to grant direct access from the United States of America to its new electronic trading system, LIFFE CONNECT™ . Brian Williamson, LIFFE's Chairman, made the following statement: "The CFTC's decision has been long awaited by LIFFE and its customers based in the United States. It significantly extends the level of direct international access to our market. The decision means that LIFFE members in the United States will have direct access to the Exchange's contracts that are listed on LIFFE CONNECT™ . These include the Euro money market contracts, in which LIFFE has 90% of the world's business, and which will be listed on LIFFE CONNECT™ from September 1999." Hugh Freedberg, LIFFE's Chief Executive said, "In anticipation of this decision, LIFFE has already installed the network to enable the Exchange's members in the United States to have direct access to LIFFE CONNECT™ . Until now, our US members could not be certain that LIFFE would receive regulatory approval in time for them to use LIFFE CONNECT™ before their Y2K freeze on systems changes had set in. The CFTC's decision removes the uncertainty and gives our US members the green light for which they have been waiting. We are committed to offering choice and innovation to our customers and we are delighted that firms on Wall Street, in Chicago and in other financial centres in the US will be able to participate in the LIFFE market on an equal footing with members trading from Europe and elsewhere. The Exchange believes that all will benefit enormously from the speed, flexibility and advanced functionality that LIFFE CONNECT™ provides." The Exchange is now able to grant access to LIFFE CONNECT™ from all countries within the European Union, from Switzerland and from the United States. While this provides the critical mass that is essential for the future growth of the Exchange, it does not represent the limit of LIFFE's ambitions for international distribution. In addition, LIFFE has applied for permission to make LIFFE CONNECT™ available in Hong Kong and Japan. Further applications are likely to follow. Brian Williamson concluded, "The CFTC's decision goes some way to repairing the discrimination against LIFFE in the United States which has existed since March 1998. The Exchange is grateful to the Acting Chairman of the CFTC and his fellow Commissioners for granting the no-action letter which will help to ensure that we will be treated on a more equal footing with our competitors in the future."