Nasdaq-Liffe selects the Options Clearing Corporation

Nasdaq Liffe Markets (NQLX), the New York-based joint venture between Nasdaq and the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (Liffe) set up to list single stock futures in the US, has chosen the Chicago-based Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) as its clearing house. The OCC will provide processing, settlement and guarantee services for all NQLX contracts.

NQLX was the first exchange approved by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to list single-stock futures. While principal-to-principal trading of single-stock futures was supposed to begin on August 21, the regulatory framework for their trading remains incomplete. The contracts may not debut in the US before the December 21 launch for retail single-stock futures trading.NQLX said it would list single-stock futures after an analysis of market-place readiness and a further submission to the CFTC on final specifications for clearing and internal regulatory arrangements.

The OCC completed operational readiness testing to clear single-stock futures on August 17. “Our agreement with NQLX marks our initial entry into the security futures market-place,” said Wayne Luthringshausen, chairman and chief executive officer of the OCC. “We're confident that our expertise in clearing derivatives, our open interest in options which enables us to offer margin offsets and our commitment to security futures products will serve this relationship well."