Deutsche Börse, the holding company behind the world's largest derivatives exchange, last week paved the way for a family of new futures contracts pegged to different parts of the credit curve after officials announced a new venture with five investment banks.

The exchange, together with ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, is to launch a family of European bond indices targeting euro-denominated fixed-income markets.