CFTC Staff Letter 00-52: No-Action Relief for Offer and Sale of Eurex Deutschland Futures Contracts on STOXX 50 and EURO STOXX 50 Indices

00-50
CFTC Letter No. 00-52
April 6, 2000
No-Action
Office of General Cousel
Edward J. Rosen, Esq.
Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton
One Liberty Plaza
New York, NY 10006-1470
Re: No-Action Request to Permit the Offer and Sale in the U.S. of Futures Contracts on the Dow Jones STOXX 50 Index and Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index Traded on the Eurex Deutschland Dear Mr. Rosen:
This is in response to your letters and facsimiles dated from May 18, 1999, through March 17, 2000, requesting that the Office of the General Counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("Commission" or "CFTC") issue a "no-action" letter concerning the offer and sale in the United States (the "U.S.") of the Eurex Deutschland's ("Eurex Deutschland" or "Eurex") futures contracts based on the Dow Jones STOXX 50 Index ("ST0XX 50 Index") and the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index ("EURO STOXX 50 Index") (collectively "Indices"). We understand the facts to be as follows. The Eurex Deutschland is a futures and options exchange located in Frankfurt, Germany and has been in operation since 1990.1 The trading of securities and derivatives is subject to the Securities Trading Act. The Securities Trading Act established the Federal Supervisory Office for Securities Trading ("BAWE") which has comprehensive authority for the supervision of the German securities and derivatives markets with respect to the prevention of abuses which impair the orderly conduct of securities and derivatives trading or may disrupt the securities or derivatives market. Eurex also is subject to state oversight. The Hessian Ministry for Economics, Transport and Development (the "Exchange Supervisory Authority") has immediate oversight responsibility with respect to the ongoing operations of Eurex. Eurex is required to submit information regarding rule and procedural changes to the Exchange Supervisory Authority. Further, the investigation and prosecution of the fraudulent manipulation of trading practices is the responsibility of the public prosecutor and the German courts with the cooperation of Eurex. On February 26, 1998, Deutsche Börse entered into a joint venture with SBF-Paris Bourse, Dow Jones, and Schweizer Börse to form a Swiss company, STOXX Limited, to develop and maintain a new group of file:///S|/Website%20Management/LegacyDataCopyasof2010-04-21/tm/letters/00letters/tm00-52.htm (1 of 6) [5/6/2010 6:20:21 PM]