The products are scheduled for launch on March 12 in time for the 2007 hurricane season. The underlying indexes will be calculated by Carvill, a specialty reinsurance firm that tracks and calculates hurricane activity.

The products will enable the likes of insurers, energy companies, pension funds, state governments and utility companies to hedge their risk of hurricanes striking in the United States in five areas defined as the Gulf Coast, Florida, the Southern Atlantic Coast, the Northern