The first month of euro trading has come and gone, and the battle for short-term futures contracts rages on. Liffe, Eurex and Matif - the UK, German-Swiss, and French futures exchanges - have been competing for market share of three-month futures contracts since January 4. Already there have been disputes about which has made the most successful transition to the euro and which is most liquid.
The futures exchanges are conducting the transitions in slightly different ways. In mid-January, Liffe carried out the mandatory conversion of all three-month Euromark and Eurolira contracts into euro Libor and euribor positions. Matif, which trades Pibor contracts, will finish converting to euribor in June. Already, over half the Pibor contracts have been voluntarily changed by Matif members. Both exchanges had a lot of existing business which then was converted to new contracts, giving them a headstart on Eurex which was created only last year.
Liffe in particular has had to defend its title as the centre of the interest rate futures market, and so far it is still in the lead. Its trading volumes for both euribor and euro Libor contracts have been consistently higher than its rivals, and is still breaking its own records.