NYSE Liffe U.S. , the U.S. futures exchange of NYSE Euronext (NYX), today announced that it will coordinate with its global customer base to complete the orderly transition of trading and open interest of all existing MSCI-linked stock index futures in the U.S. to its platform no later than June 17, 2011. Earlier today, MSCI announced that other contracts listed in the U.S. under its existing licenses are expected to cease trading with the June 2011 expiry. To ensure the transition is effective, NYSE Liffe U.S. will begin working with market participants immediately.
“Listing of futures based on MSCI’s EAFE and EM Indices is part of our plan to be the premier venue for customers to access a diverse global equity product offering based on the well-known MSCI family of indices. In the coming months, we will continue to expand our offering by introducing additional contracts based on MSCI indices,” said Thomas F. Callahan, CEO, NYSE Liffe U.S. “We anticipate that customers who need to move open interest onto our exchange will want to begin that process well in advance of the June 2011 deadline and we’ll be working closely with these firms to support them throughout the process. Our goal is to build a unique exchange with exceptional liquidity, technology and service to our global customers.”
In May 2009, NYSE Liffe U.S. signed a license agreement with MSCI to offer a broad suite of domestic and international index futures products built on a range of MSCI equity indices. These indices include style and sector exposures as well as flagship MSCI indices like the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM), MSCI EAFE and MSCI BRIC Indices. MSCI calculates over 120,000 equity indices daily as part of a diverse index portfolio including broad and efficient market coverage of U.S. and European equity markets. MSCI indices are recognized and used by leading asset managers around the world.
A unit of NYSE Euronext, NYSE Liffe U.S. recently sold a substantial minority ownership stake to six leading market participants, Citadel Securities, DRW Ventures LLC (an affiliate of DRW Trading Group), GETCO, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and UBS. NYSE Liffe U.S. utilizes the proven LIFFE CONNECT® trading platform designed and maintained by NYSE Technologies that has matched more than 3 million contracts per day in 2010 year-to-date on the NYSE Liffe European markets. NYSE Liffe U.S. offers a wide variety of global connectivity options allowing members to efficiently transact on the platform in a highly cost-effective manner.
For more information on the licenses for the MSCI indices, please see MSCI’s announcement at http://www.mscibarra.com/products/indices/licd/changes_to_licensees_for_futures_contracts.html. For more information on futures based on MSCI indices please see the NYSE Liffe U.S. website at http://www.nyse.com/nyseliffeus.