NYSE Euronext (NYX) on Monday cemented a relationship with stock index company MSCI Inc. (MSCI), granting the exchange operator exclusive rights to trade futures tied to benchmarks for European, Asian and emerging markets.

The agreement will see NYSE Euronext over the next year consolidate trading in the contracts on its still-small futures platform Liffe US, as MSCI aims to wind down an existing relationship with much-larger CME Group Inc. (CME) by June 2011.

"We still have a long way to go, but this proves that if you do things that make sense...there is a possibility to start building markets away from the only other game in town right now," said Marco Bianchi, head of business development for NYSE Liffe US.

The upstart exchange is looking to build a derivatives franchise around the MSCI indexes, which are tracked by asset managers, pension plans and other institutions; futures contracts on the anticipated value of the indexes let funds guard themselves against potential fluctuations in the market, or take a view on the economic fortunes of a sector or specific region. An estimated $3 trillion in assets is benchmarked to MSCI measures globally.

NYSE Euronext also is talking to MSCI about listing options contracts on the indexes, which would trade on the operator's two options platforms, according to Bianchi.

NYSE Liffe US introduced its first futures on MSCI indexes last fall after forging a licensing agreement covering 41 benchmarks, though volume has been light relative to much more heavily traded contracts tied to the S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average, both of which are exclusively listed at CME Group.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com
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