What do futures hold? (financial futures market analysis)

It is a paradox of our times that, as global financial markets become more integrated and singular in character, their financial futures and options counterparts continue to fragment. So, too, do the number and geographical dispersal of the exchanges trading these increasingly popular instruments. While regulatory constraints and investor conservatism still impede progress in some quarters, the liquidity of the more successful markets reveals a growing acceptance of the risk-transfer virtues of futures and options by money managers, corporate treasurers and central bankers alike.