Paris – 12 October 2015 – As part of its strategy to develop its derivatives segment, Euronext introduces today the first “Spotlight Options” on the Paris market. The dedicated segment for spotlight optionsbenefits from a unique market model designed by Euronext to give more visibility to underlying assets, such as medium and smaller sized companies and newly listed stocks. Eight new “Spotlight Options” have been admitted to listing with immediate effect, following the companies’ successful IPOs on Euronext in Paris: Coface, Elior, Elis, GTT, Numericable Group, Tarket, SPIE and Worldline.
The extension of the segment to Euronext Paris follows the success of the spotlight options on Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels. “Spotlight Options” are created on the request of market participants and thank their success to a unique combination of liquidity provider support and strong promotion by sponsoring brokers. The options have short-term maturities of one, two or three months and create additional investment and trading opportunities in SMEs and newly listed stocks. The liquidity in these options classes will be supported by Susquehanna International Securities Limited.
Adam Rose, Head of Financial Derivatives at Euronext, said: “We are delighted to further expand our Spotlight segment by offering options on blue chips for the first time in France in response to demands from clients looking for innovative investment opportunities to diversify their derivative portfolio. This is an important initiative from Euronext to enhance its derivatives offering, allowing investors to enlarge their option portfolio in our transparent, regulated and cleared trading environment. We are already seeing significant growth in this segment in Amsterdam and Brussels, with increasing volumes and open interest; almost 200,000 lots have already been traded since launch.”
Cathal Hardiman, Options Sales Trader, Susquehanna International Securities, added: “As a leading options market maker we always welcome the expansion of the options available for trading in Europe. Liquidity is essential for the growth of new products and we will be providing both on-screen liquidity by publishing 2-way prices during market hours and off-screen liquidity by making prices to clients who contact us directly.”
Further information on technical specifications of the Spotlight Options are available on the Euronext website at derivatives.euronext.com/spotlightoptions