Nymex Europe, the London-based subsidiary of the New York Mercantile Exchange, is to revamp its rules in an attempt to reverse a slump in volumes since it opened in London on September 12.

Roy Leighton, chairman, told Financial News: "We had a pretty solid start, but volumes have tailed off. Part of the problem has been that several major users haven't been using us. This is related to our rule book, which is an Anglicised version of the Nymex Inc rule book. We're about to introduce a range of amendments to make it much more European in style."