[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 19, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 65236-65237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-30361]



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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

17 CFR Part 30


Foreign Option Transactions

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Order.

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SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) is 
issuing this Order pursuant to which Option Contracts on a spot foreign 
exchange operation between the Deutsche Mark and the French Franc (DEM/
FRF) traded on the Marche a Terme International de France (MATIF) may 
be offered or sold to persons located in the United States. This Order 
makes it unlawful for any person to engage in the offer or sale of a 
foreign option product until the Commission, by order, authorizes such 
foreign option to be offered or sold in the United States and the 
procedures established by the Mutual Recognition Memorandum of 
Understanding (MRMOU) with the French Commission des Operations de 
Bourse.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 18, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Warren R. Gorlick, Esq., Division of 
Trading and Markets, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three 
Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20581. 
Telephone: (202) 418-5435.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission has issued the following 
Order:

United States of America Before the Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission

Order Pursuant to the Mutual Recognition Memorandum of 
Understanding with the French Commission des Operations de Bourse 
and Rule 30.3(a) Permitting Option Contracts on the DEM/FRF Traded 
on the Marche a Terme International de France (MATIF) to Be Offered 
or Sold to Persons Located in the United States Thirty Days After 
Publication of This Notice in the Federal Register Absent Further 
Notice

    By Order issued on December 17, 1991 (Initial Order) <SUP>1, the 
Commission authorized, pursuant to the Mutual Recognition Memorandum of 
Understanding (MRMOU) <SUP>2 and Commission rule 30.3(a),<SUP>3 certain 
option products traded on the MATIF to be offered or sold in the United 
States.

    \1\ See 56 FR 66345 (December 23, 1991).
    \2\ See 55 FR 23902 (June 13, 1990). Among other things, this 
arrangement provides a mechanism pursuant to which certain option 
products traded on the Marche a Terme International de France 
(MATIF) may be offered or sold to customers resident in the United 
States thirty days after publication in the Federal Register of a 
notice specifying the particular option contracts to be offered or 
sold.
    \3\ Commission rule 30.3(a), 17 CFR 30.3(a), makes it unlawful 
for any person to engage in the offer or sale of a foreign option 
product until the Commission, by order, authorizes such foreign 
option to be offered or sold in the United States.
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    By letter dated October 24, 1995, MATIF notified the Commission 
that on October 23, 1995 it would be introducing Option Contracts based 
on the DEM/FRF and requested that the Commission supplement its Initial 
Order authorizing the offer and sale in the United States of Options on 
the Notional Bond, the 3-month PIBOR, the 3-month EURODEM Futures 
Contracts; a Supplemental Order, 57 FR 10987 (April 1, 1992), 
authorizing the offer and sale in the United States of Options on the 
Long-Term ECU Bond Futures Contracts; a Supplemental Order, 59 FR 22971 
(May 4, 1994), authorizing the offer and sale in the United States of 
Options on the USD/DEM and USD/FRF; and a Supplemental Order, 60 FR 
34458 (July 3, 1995), authorizing the offer and sale in the United 
States of Options on the GBP/DEM and the DEM/ITL by also authorizing 
the MATIF's Option Contracts on the DEM/FRF to be offered or sold to 
persons located in the United States.<SUP>4 Based upon the foregoing, 
and pursuant to the terms of the MRMOU, the Commission hereby publishes 
this Order in the Federal Register pursuant to which the particular 
Option Contracts specified herein may be offered or sold thirty days 
after the publication of this Order.

    \4\ See letter dated October 24, 1995 from Catherine Langlais, 
MATIF, to Jane C. Kang, Esq., Division of Trading and Markets. See 
also letter dated November 6, 1995 from Frederic Perier, Commission 
des Operations de Bourse, to Andrea M. Corcoran, Director, Division 
of Trading and Markets.
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    Accordingly, pursuant to Commission rule 30.3(a), 17 CFR 30.3(a), 
and Article II, paragraph 6(b) and Article V, paragraph 6 of the MRMOU 
signed by the Commission on June 6, 1990 (55 FR 23902 (June 13, 1990)), 
and subject to the terms and conditions specified in the MRMOU, the 
Commission hereby issues this Order pursuant to which Option Contracts 
based on the DEM/FRF traded on the MATIF may be offered or sold to 
persons located in the United States thirty days after publication of 
this Order in the Federal Register, unless prior to that date the 
Commission receives any comments which may result in a determination to 
delay the effective date of the Order pending review of such comments. 
Under such circumstances the Commission will provide notice.

Contract Specifications

DEM/FRF Option

Type
European style
Underlying Interest
Spot currency transaction DEM against FRF
Contract Size
DEM 100,000
Strike Price
Expressed in FRF, with 2 decimals.
Strike price intervals: 1 Centime (3.40-3.41)
Quotation
Premium in % of the DEM nominal, with 2 decimals.
Ex: 0.45% stands for 100,000  x  0.45/100 = DEM 450.
In specific cases, premium with 3 decimals.
Tick
Size: 0.01%
Value: 0.01/100  x  100,000 = DEM 10
Expiration
3 monthly + 3 quarterly expirations from March (H), June (M), September 
(U), December (Z)
Last Trading Day
Thursday following the 3rd Wednesday of expiration month at 9:00 am 
(New York time) 

[[Page 65237]]

First Trading Day
First business day following an expiration date
Exercise
After settlement of a spot-fixing on the expiration date, automatic 
exercise of in-the-money options.
Exercise: exchange of underlying currencies
Trading Hours
Open outcry: 9:15 am to 5:00 pm (Paris time)
THS (after hours trading): 5:00 pm to 9:15 am

List of Subjects in 17 CFR Part 30

    Commodity futures, Commodity options, Foreign transactions.

    Accordingly, 17 CFR part 30 is amended as set forth below:

PART 30--FOREIGN FUTURES AND FOREIGN OPTION TRANSACTIONS

    1. The authority citation for part 30 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Secs. 2(a)(1)(A), 4, 4c, and 8a of the Commodity 
Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. 2, 6, 6c and 12a.

    2. Appendix B to part 30 is amended by adding the following entry 
after the existing entries for the ``Marche a Terme International de 
France'' to read as follows:

Appendix B to Part 30--Option Contracts Permitted to be Offered or Sold 
in the U.S. Pursuant to Sec. 30.3(a)

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          Exchange              Type of contract    FR date and citation
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Marche a Terme International  Option Contracts on   December 19, 1995;  
 de France.                    the Deutsche Mark     60 FR 65237        
                               and the French                           
                               Franc (DEM/FRF).                         
                                                                        
    *           *         *         *         *           *         *   
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    Issued in Washington, D.C. on December 6, 1995.
Jean A. Webb,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 95-30361 Filed 12-18-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P