OREANDA-NEWS. December 19, 2012. Futures contracts on the 10-year government bonds (OFZ) basket started trading on the Moscow Exchange FORTS Derivatives Market. The most liquid Russian Federation government loan bonds with the term to maturity from seven to ten years are the underlying asset of the futures contract. The amount of trades in the futures contract for the first trading day exceeded RUB520 million.

"Futures on the OFZ basket are the Exchange's most rapid-growing product. We can clearly observe the rise in the treasurer and investment manager hedging culture. Trading participants realize that it is easier and more cost effective for them to influence their portfolio's risk-profile with futures than through buying or selling securities. In the light of the liberalization of the Government bond market we do expect that demand in these instruments will continue growing," — said Roman Sulzhyk, Managing Director of Derivatives Market.