JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley have further expanded the product family based on their new credit default swap index, Trac-x Europe, by launching options based on the index.

The innovative Trac-x index was launched in April this year, ahead of competing efforts by other banks including CSFB and Lehman Brothers. It comprises the 100 most actively traded names in the European credit default swap market. In late June the banks began offering swaps based on the index, and they are reported to have already attracted several billions of euros worth of trading interest.