The Majority Of LIFFE's Pan-European Stock Index Futures Now Available To Trade By US Investors

The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) has received "No Action" letters from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the government agency that oversees futures trading in the US, authorising a further five of its pan-European stock index futures for offer and sale in the US.

As a result of the CFTC's decision US investors will soon be able to trade the following five LIFFE contracts based on two families of indices - one provided by FTSE and the other by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI): The FTSE Eurotop 300 Index , the FTSE Eurotop 300 (ex-UK) Index, the FTSE Eurobloc 100 Index futures and the MSCI Euro Index and the MSCI Pan-Euro Index futures.

John Foyle, LIFFE's Deputy Chief Executive said: "LIFFE welcomes the CFTC's decision which means that US customers interested in investing in European companies will now have access to a wider choice of pan-European stock index future products. Together with the approval granted by the CFTC on March 10 in respect of the FTSE Eurotop 100 Index in the US, this means that the majority of LIFFE's pan-European equity future products are available to US investors. We are still waiting regulatory approval for our FTSE Stars Index Futures which is expected shortly."