A source suggested the new group would act as a conduit between sales and development, maintaining a focus on core products as demand for non-traditional asset classes remains sluggish. It is understood the new pan-European department, which began work last week, is being headed by Tobias Knobbe.

The source claimed development of some asset classes – in particular weather derivatives –was likely to suffer. “They won’t be actively pushed, is the line,” the source said.

A spokesperson for the bourse suggested this view was unfair, saying all product development teams would be treated on their own merits. “It’s not a case of either or,” the spokesman said.

The idea of the reorganisation, he argued, was to make the bourse’s back office functions more streamlined, giving a more efficient, customer-based approach.

The remaining members of Eurex’s clearing team in London have been reassigned to different sales roles in the group. Kay Schaefer has moved to the new team.

The bourse’s clearing operations will now be run entirely from mainland Europe, though it is believed Eurex Clearing will retain some staff in London.

Reshuffling its teams underlines Eurex’s determination to shore up revenues across the continent, faced with expensive writedown costs and a declining market share at its US options platform, the International Securities Exchange.

Parent company Deutsche Börse has been in the process of restructuring its front, middle and back office teams since posting a €367.7m loss for 2009.

“Eurex is not a pure domestic market,” as one market player in Frankfurt put it recently. “Their expansion is not focussed on Germany. They don’t focus on the local market; they focus on the products they can sell.”

Tom Osborn +44 207 779 8361 tosborn@fow.com