The Wocu, a real time world currency unit quotation, is owned and distributed by London-based WDX Organisation. It is made up of a basket of the currencies of the world’s top 20 nations as determined by the IMF measures of GDP. As the Wocu’s constituent currencies are weighted in line with GDP, it is generally less volatile than traditional currency pairs, so it is intended to balance currency risk.

Wocu derivatives are expected to enable financial market participants to use the Wocu. The Wocu is expected to complement the listings of other financial and commodity instruments on the Polish Futures Market.

“We are the first stock exchange worldwide to launch Wocu derivatives, which we believe will be of special interest to Polish companies doing business in several international markets and that thus have to hedge several currency risks,” said Michal Jerzak, president of the WGT's board.

The contract specifications will be announced at a later date, but it is expected that there will be a heavy leaning towards foreign exchange products that will complement the commodities products already offered on the Warsaw Commodity Exchange.

The Polish Futures Market is waiting to receive recognised market status, which is pending with the Polish Regulatory Authority and may be granted in the next two to three months. The WDX’s currency index algorithm has been licensed to it.
WGT, the operator of one of the largest exchange-based spot commodity markets in Europe, recently set up the privately-owned Polish Futures Market exchange to take advantage of the changes to Polish financial services regulations.

Mareen Goebel +44 207 779 8358 mgoebel@fow.com