The battle for global supremacy in the futures market stepped up a gear this week when the Chicago Board of Trade, the second-largest US futures exchange, secured approval for Italian clients to trade directly on its electronic platform.

The regulatory approval comes a month after Eurex US, the Chicago-based arm of the Swiss-German derivatives exchange and CBOT's main rival, won similar approval from Spanish and Italian regulators as it sought to increase liquidity. The European exchange also renewed efforts to attract business in Italy when it listed a new Italian equity index future, the Dow Jones Italy Titans 30, in July.