Release: 4884-04
For Release: January 28, 2004

CFTC Staff Allows LIFFE’s Futures Contracts Based on the FTSEurofirst 80 Index and the FTSEurofirst 100 Index to be Offered and Sold in the United States

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC's) Office of General Counsel (OGC) issued a no-action letter on January 22, 2004, permitting the offer and sale in the United States of the FTSEurofirst 80 Index and the FTSEurofirst 100 Index futures contracts traded on The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE). On behalf of the Division of Market Oversight, OGC confirmed that the no-action relief provided to LIFFE on July 23, 1999, extends to the FTSEurofirst 80 Index and FTSEurofirst 100 Index futures contracts. Thus, these products may be made available in the United States on LIFFE’s electronic trading facility, LIFFE CONNECT™.

The FTSEurofirst 80 Index and the FTSEurofirst 100 Index are broad-based, free-float market capitalization-weighted composite indices of highly capitalized and actively traded securities currently listed on major European stock exchanges. Based on data supplied by LIFFE, the total market capitalizations of the FTSEurofirst 80 Index and FTSEurofirst 100 Index were approximately U.S.$ 1,744 billion and U.S.$ 2,881 billion, respectively, as of June 10, 2003.

• 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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