The international derivatives market Eurex Exchange is further expanding its successful dividend derivatives segment by launching a total of ten new dividend futures on 2 March 2012.

These new futures are based on dividends from selected sector indices; out of the EURO STOXX sector and STOXX Europe 600 sector indices the sectors banking, insurance, oil & gas, telecommunications and utilities will be covered. Consultation revealed the greatest demand among market participants for these dividend sector indices.

The product specifications of the new futures are similar to the products already listed. The contracts are settled in cash and denominated in euro, trading hours are from 8.30 a.m. – 5.30 p.m. CET. A market making incentive scheme will be offered in order to provide a liquid order book from the start. To offer an attractive alternative to the swap-based trading, Eurex offers central clearing for bilateral trading in the new products every trading day via Eurex Exchange's “block trading” OTC trade entry facility. The minimum transaction size is one contract.

The first products in the dividend-based derivatives segment were launched in June 2008. In 2011, more than 23,000 contracts were traded on average each day, equating to six million contracts in total. In January 2012, average daily volume further increased to 26,000 contracts. Open interest currently stands at almost 2.0 million contracts, which is equal to a nominal dividend amount of around EUR13 billion.