The first week in September will bring something new to the Bucharest Stock Exchange- futures contracts, which will start trading, according to market sources close to the Stock Exchange. The information is also certified by the changes that will be made to the BET index at the end of August. The replacement of the less liquid shares of Oltchim and Azomures with the shares of Broker Cluj and Biofarm, and an alteration to the way the index is calculated will pave the way for the trading of the first derivatives. In fact, the BET will the underlying asset of the first futures contracts in Bucharest. When contacted by ZF, Stere Farmache (photo), the general manager of the BSE, chose not to comment on information concerning the trading start date for futures contracts; however, he had previously stated that derivatives would make their debut on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in September at the latest. The BSE has ambitious plans and besides the BET futures, will launch futures using the BET-FI (the index of the five financial companies or SIF) as underlying asset followed by stock derivatives. These will be adapted so as not to overlap with those already trading on the market in Sibiu. "The BSE has received the trading approval from the National Securities Commission, we already have a Compensation and Clearing House in operation, so that we can tackle the entire range of derivatives," says Farmache. The BSE representatives are highly confident about the success of the Bucharest derivatives market and are counting on investors' demand for the new instruments.
