The Irish Stock Exchange is to launch a new market in covered warrants tomorrow.
The warrants relate to five leading Irish shares - AIB, Bank of Ireland, CRH, Anglo Irish Bank and Ryanair - and are to be issued by Investec Bank.
Covered warrants are similar to options and give the investor the right but not the obligation to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price on or before a predetermined date.
They are issued by an independent financial institution, which covers or hedges its sale of warrants by buying or selling the underlying stock in the market. From the ISE's perspective, this further increases the liquidity of volumes traded in the shares.
