Record January Volume For LIFFE

The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) traded 21.6 million contracts in January 2002, the highest volume ever traded in the month of January in the Exchange's history. This is an increase of 32% on January 2001 and represents an underlying nominal value of £9.9 trillion (€16 trillion), the highest value ever traded in the month of January. Average daily volume in January 2002 amounted to 981,334 contracts with a nominal value of £453 billion (€879 billion). Total open interest stood at more than 12.8 million contracts at the close of trading on January 31, 2002.

The growth in trading volume was reflected across LIFFE's entire product range of financial and non-financial products. In January 2002 LIFFE's short-term interest rate products showed an increase of 29%, with its equity products up 38% and long term bond products up 85% on year-ago levels.

LIFFE's Universal Stock Futures (USFs) celebrated their first birthday on 29 January 2002. A year ago 25 USF's were launched; now 97 are listed. Around 2.4 million USF contracts with a notional value of £5.43 billion (€8.80 billion) changed hands during the year.

Through USFs, users can gain exposure to a range of equities from 11 different countries through a single centralised market, using one rulebook and cleared through one centralised clearing house, the London Clearing House. These aspects are particularly relevant for global investors looking to trade across borders efficiently.