Section 323, for example, prohibits a director from dealing in options of the securities of his company and in other companies within the same group.

Instead they were brokers who regularly deal in options and bought them because Mr. Mullen is a good customer.

They buy, sell, deal in options, leases, futures, and all mining fi- nance, and of course they all have vast investments."

One charge related to dealing in options on the FT-SE 100 and alleges that the accused bought options with a face value of £51.5million while concealing the failure of the rights issue.

Also, because the writer of an option takes an unlimited risk, large financial institutions trying to lay off some of the risk written in the over-the-counter market will continue to deal in options on established exchanges.

They can deal in options, which give them the right to buy or sell a certain amount of a currency at a given price and time: say, the right to buy British pounds for $1.75 in three months.

The exchange said in a statement that trading continued normally from member firms' own dealing rooms but that the London Traded Options Market, which occupies a corner of the former trading floor and deals in options on future share deals, had not opened for business.