NYSE Liffe, the London-based futures exchange, will allow Brazilian trading firms direct access to its markets for the first time in a sign of the efforts being made by exchange operators to create global franchises and tap into the burgeoning demand from emerging markets.

The derivatives unit of NYSE Euronext today said it had received regulatory approval from Brazil's securities and exchange commission, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários, or CVM, to offer direct electronic access to its markets from firms based in the country.