NYSE Liffe Receives CFTC Approval as Designated Contract Market

NYSE Liffe, LLC, the new U.S. futures exchange being launched by NYSE Euronext, received approval for its application to become a designed contract market (DCM) from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

NYSE Euronext's entry into the U.S. futures business follows the purchase of CBOT's precious metals business earlier this year from the CME Group.

NYSE Euronext will establish its U.S. futures business on Sunday evening, Sept. 7 for trade data Sept. 8 with the transition of 100 oz. gold futures, 5,000 oz. silver futures, options on gold and silver futures, and mini-sized 33.2 oz. gold and 1,000oz. silver futures from CBOT to NYSE Liffe.

"We are committed to growing our presence in derivatives markets globally," stated Duncan Niederauer, CEO, NYSE Euronext in the release. "The U.S. futures market holds great promise for NYSE Euroenxt , and we hope our entry will foster greater competition, innovation and efficiency for the benefit of all market participants, " added Niederauer. Niederauer also thanked the CFTC for approving the DCM application in less than four months from its initial approach to the Commission.

According to Thomas Callahan, NYSE Euronext EVP, head of U.S. futures, the new futures exchange "is working hard to ensure a seamless transition for our clients." NYSE Liffe expects that "it will quickly become an efficient source of liquidity and price discovery for 170 NYSE Liffe members and our broad network of global customers," stated Callahan.

As part of the transition plan, NYSE Liffe will continue to deploy the LIFFE CONNECT trading platform previously used by CBOT. CME will provide clearing services for precious metals through the first quarter of 2009. In addition, certain operational functions and market surveillance activities will be outsourced to Liffe and the National Futures Association (NFA).

Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad ... View Full Bio