Recently, several stock index futures exchanges have experimented with an altered contract design in order to make the contract more attractive and to increase investor accessibility. In 1998, the Swedish futures exchange (OM) split the OMX-index futures contract with a factor 4:1, without...

Recently, the Swedish options and futures exchange (OM) launched some regulatory changes in the design of the OMX index options market. The redesign constituted two alterations in the option contract specifications; a coarser strike price interval for the index options, and a 4:1 split affecting...

We exploit an optional colocation upgrade at NASDAQ OMX Stockholm to assess how speed affects market liquidity. Liquidity improves for the overall market and even for noncolocated trading entities. We find that the upgrade is pursued mainly by participants who engage in market making. Those that...