A futures market designed to allow trading on box-office takings has been approved by regulators in the United States, but its creation has been slammed by Hollywood.
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved the Trend Exchange last week, which would allow participants in the industry and speculators to trade on money made from movie releases.
However, a ban on the market has been supported by the Motion Pictures Association of America, the National Association of Theatre owners, the Directors Guild of America and the Independent Film & Television Alliance.
But Veriana Ventures, the group behind the proposed market, has said it will continue pushing for the creation of the Trend Exchange saying smaller studios will gain large benefits.
“How can an exchange that helps create liquidity be criticised when it really helps bring new dollars to an already struggling economic situation?” Veriana chief executive Rob Swagger said on a conference call with reporters.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
