Euronext.liffe to launch options on exchange-traded funds

The derivatives branch of the Euronext exchange, Euronext.liffe, plans to launch options on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January. The move follows rival Eurex’s launch of options and futures on ETFs in November.

A list of the options will be released at the beginning of next year, with trading scheduled to start on January 23. It lists 62 'trackers' – Euronext.liffe’s name for ETFs, and claims to have between 45% and 50% of European ETF market share by turnover.

Trading will start on Euronext’s electronic trading platform, Next Derivatives System. It will then migrate to the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange's (Liffe) trade system, LiffeConnect, in April, as part of efforts to create a post-merger single derivatives platform. Euronext merged with Liffe last January.

Eurex became the first exchange to offer futures and options on ETFs when it opened its market on November 18. Its contracts cover futures and options on three Euro Stoxx indexes, an index based on the Dax German equity index and one based on the Swiss Market Index.