Coinciding with its 10th anniversary, ÖTOB, Austria's futures and options exchange, is set to make a strong marketing push in an effort to shore up its lagging volumes.
Originally established as a subsidiary of Austrian banks, ÖTOB has been an integral part of Wiener Börse, the Vienna stock exchange, since the two bodies merged in 1997. Trading first started on ÖTOB in October 1991 when stock options were launched on five underlying stocks included in the ATX (Austrian Traded Index). Trading in ATX futures and options started in 1992, followed by Austrian government bond futures in 1993 (now discontinued) and a family of options and futures contracts on Eastern European traded indices. A separate warrant trading system based on OM technology was introduced in 1999.