CFTC Staff Letter 11-06: No-Action Relief for Euronext Brussels BEL 20 Index Futures

U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20581
Telephone: (202) 418-5120
Facsimile: (202) 418-5524
Office of General Counsel

CFTC Letter No. 11-06
No-Action
August 31, 2011
Office of General Counsel
Mr. Vincent Van Dessel
CEO and Chairman of the Board
Euronext Brussels, S.A.
Palais de la Bourse Beurspaleis/
Place de la Bourse Beursplein
1000 Bruxelles Brussel
Belgium
Re: Euronext Brussels, S.A.’s Request for No-Action Relief in Connection with the Offer and Sale in the United States of its Futures Contract Based on the BEL 20 Stock Index Dear Mr. Van Dessel:
This is in response to the letter and attachments dated May 9, 2009, from Mr. Bruno Colmant and your letter dated September 21, 2009, requesting on behalf of Euronext Brussels (“EB” or “Exchange”) that the Office of General Counsel (“Office”) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) issue a “no-action” letter in connection with the offer and sale in the United States of EB’s futures contract based on the BEL 20 Index (“B20” or “Index”). We understand the facts to be as follows. EB is a subsidiary of NYSE Euronext (“NE”), and trading on EB is governed by the rules and procedures that govern trading on all Euronext markets.1 The EB is governed by the Belgian Act of August 2, 2002 and is subject to regulation by the Commission Bancaire, Financere et des Assurances/Commissie voor het Bank-, Financie￾en Assurantiewezen (“CBFA”). The B20 is a free-float, market-capitalization weighted index of the largest and most liquid 20 stocks listed on EB, and it serves as the blue-chip index for the Belgian equity market.2