Under the terms of the new agreement, Liffe will receive a wider range of consensus dividend forecasts from Markit for use in its indicative options pricing model and Bclear, its trade confirmation, administration and clearing service for wholesale equity derivatives.

Liffe will integrate Markit's global dividend forecasts, giving it access to amounts and dates on a set of approximately 5,000 stocks worldwide and up to four years ahead. Liffe uses Markit's dividend forecasts as an input in its mathematical pricing models to calculate an option's fair value. Dividend forecasts are one of the crucial elements needed to determine indicative option prices and daily settlement prices.

Hendrik Koppe, Director, Market Services at Liffe, said: "The accuracy and integrity of the inputs we use are a key element of our services. We have been working with Markit for a number of years and are delighted to expand our relationship with them. This new agreement will enable us to enhance our current offering, most notably that of our Bclear service."

Philippe Rivet, Director, Head of Markit Equity Products, said: "Markit is delighted that Liffe has expanded their use of Markit Dividends as an input in their indicative options pricing model and Bclear. We welcome the opportunity to work more closely with Liffe and its members, and believe they will find this latest enhancement most helpful."