Lost in last week’s short trading week was the April 14 launch of CME Group Inc. (CME)’s?Euro-Denominated Deliverable Interest Rate Swap Futures (Euro DSF) contracts.

The product comes in two-year, five-year and 10- year maturities and a notional value of EUR 100,000 per contracts.?

At the time of its announcement?to launch the product, CME noted that the Euro DSF contract had been designed to meet the needs of European financial market participants, including banks, hedge funds, asset managers and insurers. It is intended to complement the USD DSF, introduced about 17 months ago, by helping market participants manage their global swaps book.

In addition, the Euro DSF has the same economic exposure as an interest rate swap with the margin and liquidity benefits of a futures contract; at expiration all open positions will deliver into a CME Cleared Euro Interest Rate Swap.

Other benefits of the product include automatic risk offsets with CME?s liquid Treasury and Eurodollar futures and options, and reduced clearing fees as futures are not typically subject to additional costs charged by OTC clearing members.

Upon announcing the product’s launch,?Sean Tully, CME Managing Director of Interest Rate & OTC Products,?said, “We have seen continuous growth in our USD DSF as market participants are looking for more all in cost efficient alternatives. ?With the addition of the Euro DSF contract, we are offering clients another tool that further strengthens our client value proposition and position as the leading OTC client clearing solution.”