Timetable set for single stock futures. (3...2...1...Launch!).

CFTC Chairman Newsome managed to find something FCMs and exchange representatives could come together on during his remarks before the CFTC roundtable on clearing issues on Aug. 1. He told the representatives the CFTC had approved the SEC's version of final margin rules for security futures

The SEC, at a July 24 open meeting, approved final margin rules for security futures products. The vote followed the approval of margin rules by the CFTC on July 2 with minor changes in the preamble requiring the CFTC to vote on the amended version.

"We will work with our partners and customers to put together a launch date as soon as possible," says OneChicago Senior Managing Director Peter Borish.

Nasdaq Liffe President Bob Fitzsimmons commended the SEC and CFTC for "the excruciating detail" they had to go through in promulgating final margin rules. "We are probably looking at the end of September or early October to launch. That is the message we are getting loud and clear from our member firms," Fitzsimmons says.

Many would like the products to launch on a Friday to allow the exchanges the weekend to correct any problems encountered the first day of trading. That would make September's Friday the 13th the earliest legal date, the connotations of which may concern the superstitious. The next Friday is a triple options expiration day, leaving Sept. 27 as the probable date, although a OneChicago representative says a launch isn't likely until October.

In a joint statement, the Security Industry Association and the FIA said the final rules appear substantially more workable than rules proposed last fall.