The US CFTC is to permit the offer and sale in the USA of the Osaka Securities Exchange's mini futures contract based on the Nikkei 225. 

The CFTC's Office of the General Counsel issued a no-action letter on July 10, 2006 permitted the sale of these mini futures in the USA.

The Nikkei 225 (Nikkei 225 Stock Average Index) is a broad-based, price-weighted composite security index consisting of highly capitalized and actively traded stocks currently listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).

Managed and published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. (Nikkei Shimbun), the Nikkei 225 is a widely observed index of stock market activity in Japan.  As of 20 April 2006, the total market capitalization of the Nikkei 225 was approximately USD 3.32 trillion.

For information on foreign exchange-traded security index futures contracts pending no-action approval with the CFTC's OGC, see the Foreign Instrument Approvals & Exemptions Backgrounder at www.cftc.gov/opa/backgrounder/opapart30.htm