Release: 5235-06

For Release: September 27, 2006

CFTC Staff Allows Hong Kong Futures Exchange’s Futures Contract Based on the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index to be Offered and Sold in the United States

Washington, D.C. – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC's) Office of General Counsel issued a no-action letter on September 26, 2006, permitting the offer and sale in the United States of the Hong Kong Futures Exchange Limited’s (HKFE’s) futures contracts based on the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXC) and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI).

The FXC is a broad-based, modified-free-float-market-capitalization-weighted security index, composed of 25 of the largest and most liquid Chinese common stocks (Red Chip and H-shares) listed for trading on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK). As of April 30, 2005, the total market capitalization of the FXC was approximately US$52.53 billion.

The HSCEI is a broad-based, modified-free-float-market-capitalization-weighted index composed of all H Share common stocks that are listed on the SEHK and are included in the Hang Seng Composite Index. As of March 28, 2006, the total market capitalization of the HSCEI was approximately U.S. $209 billion.

For information on foreign exchange-traded security index futures contracts pending no-action approval with the CFTC's OGC, see the Foreign Instrument Approvals & Exemptions Backgrounder at www.cftc.gov/opa/backgrounder/opapart30.htm.

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Last Updated: July 13, 2007