March 10, 2010

life in financial markets: it kicks off at last. a global equity product on nse

In my 19Aug09 blogpost I had broken the news of how NSE was very close to introducing a global equity product on its domestic trading platform.

Well, the news has broken now. Read below yesterday's (Wednesday, 10 March 2010) joint press press release of NSE and CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange). It talks about NSE being licensed the use of S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average index in futures contracts (only, options contracts not yet) on the two indices in its equity derivatives trading segment, and NSE's Nifty index being licensed to CME to use in futures (only, options contracts not yet) contracts in CME's equity derivatives trading segment.

So, Indian investors will be able trade in futures (but not options) on S&P 500 and DJIA and American investors will be able to traded in futures on Nifty index.

Although the new products are welcome I am disappointed that it is the only two. I would love to trade through a NSE broker on the NSE trading platform international ETFs (exchange traded funds), particularly the ones on green energy. NSE needs to tie up with other index providers and exchanges where those ETFs are listed and traded.


The CME-NSE press release:

Stock Exchange of India (NSE), the largest stock exchange in India, and CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced cross-listing arrangements, including license agreements covering benchmark indexes for U.S. and Indian equities. The parties have also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with respect to other areas of potential cooperation, including related to development and distribution of financial products and services.
Under the cross-listing arrangements, the S&P CNX Nifty Index (the Nifty 50), the leading Indian benchmark index for large companies accounting for 22 sectors of the Indian economy, will be made available to Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), for the creation and listing of U.S. dollar denominated futures contracts for trading on CME, and the rights to the S&P 500® and Dow Jones Industrial Average™ (DJIA®) will also be made available to NSE for the creation and (subject to regulatory approval) listing of Rupee-denominated futures contracts for trading on NSE. The license to the Nifty 50 from NSE's affiliate India Index Services & Products Ltd. (IISL), which is exclusive to CME Group within the Americas and Europe, is in addition to the existing licensing arrangement between Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX) and IISL. The sublicenses to the S&P 500 and DJIA indexes, which are exclusive to NSE for Rupee-denominated futures contracts traded within India, are being made available via sublicenses from CME Group and each of Standard & Poor's and Dow Jones, respectively.
"Indian financial markets have gone through a phase of rapid growth in the past few years," said Ravi Narain, MD & CEO, NSE. "Our products are traded by institutional investors worldwide, making the Nifty 50 one of the more widely traded global products. This association with CME Group will make the Nifty 50, and, over time, potentially other products across various India-related asset classes, available to a much larger community of traders and investors. At the same time, investors in India will have access to new exchange traded products that reflect some of the world's most widely traded equity indexes. This will improve portfolio choice for Indian investors by widening the array of assets that they can hold in their portfolios."
"These agreements with NSE, India's largest stock exchange, represent another example of CME Group's commitment to expand our global offerings and services to our customers," said Terry Duffy, Executive Chairman, CME Group. "These arrangements will allow us to expand on our benchmark equity index product suite and provide our customers with access to a futures contract that is based upon the leading benchmark index reflecting the Indian equity markets."
"Our new partnership with NSE is an integral part of our global growth strategy," said Craig Donohue, Chief Executive Officer, CME Group. "In addition to our existing partnerships or investments in Brazil, Dubai, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico and Singapore, our NSE partnership will further expand our customers' access to the most actively-traded foreign markets, while also increasing access for global investors from within these regions to CME Group products and services. As the world's 12th largest and one of the most rapidly growing economies, India is an important part of our efforts to develop strategic partners in key growth markets."
"We see this as a very exciting development that marks the coming of age of Indian financial markets," added Mr. Narain. "This will go a long way in achieving our vision of supporting economic growth in the country by making Indian financial products available globally and meeting the needs of our investor community for global products."
"S&P Indices has a successful, twenty-seven year relationship with the CME Group in the U.S. futures market, and a strong ten year association with the NSE in developing stock market indices in India," says Alexander Matturri, Executive Managing Director at S&P Indices. "We are certainly pleased to be working with both of our longtime exchange partners to help Indian investors gain greater access to the U.S. equity markets as determined by the S&P 500, an index with nearly $1 trillion directly indexed to it."

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