CFTC Staff Letter 97-71: No-Action Letter for Simex MSCI Taiwan Index Futures Contract

OFFICE OF
GENERAL COUNSEL
U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20581
Telephone: (202) 418-5120
Facsimile: (202) 418-5524
August 29, 1997
Philip McBride Johnson, Esquir~
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Florn
1440 New York Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005-2111
Re: Singapore International Monetary Exchange Morgan Stanley Capital International Taiwan Stock Index Futures Contract Dear Mr. Johnson:
This is in response to your letters dated December 12, 1996 through January 24, 1997 on behalf of the Singapore International Monetary Exchange, Limited ("Simex11) requesting a no-action letter allowing the Simex futures contract (and options thereon)1 based on the Morgan Stanley Capital International (J'MSCI") Taiwan Stock Index (''Taiwan Index" or "Index") to be offered or sold in the United .States. 2 We understand the facts to be as follows. The Simex is located in Singapore and has been in operation since September 1984. The Simex is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore ("MAS") as a futures ~xchange under the.Futures Trading Act of. .
1986. The Simex is not designated as a contract market under the Commodity Exchange
Act ("CEA" or "Act") and does not intend to seek such designation.3 1 This no-action position is directed to the Simex futures contract based on the MSCI Taiwan Index. No additional relief or approval is necessary for the offer and sale within the United States of the option on the MSCI Taiwan Index futures contract: See 61 Fed. Reg. 10891 (Mar. 18, 1996). · · 2 As you are aware, the Office of the General Counsel issued a no..,action letter to the Simex with respect to the futures contract based on the Nikkei Stock Average on December-S, 1986, to the futures contract based on the MSCI Hong Kong Index on June 1, 1994 and to . the futures contract based on the Nikkei Stock Index 300 on December 13, 1995. 3 0n August 28, 1984, the Commission approved certain rule changes of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange ("CME") to facilitate the Mutual Offset System (''MOS") between the CME' and Simex whereby positions established on one exchan,ge can be transferred to or