BTANs and OATs are debt instruments issued by the French government.
BTAN
Bon à Taux Annuel Normalisé or BTANs (Treasury notes with annual coupons) are medium-term treasury securities with a maturity of 2-5 years. They have a par value of €1 and their settlement is at par value on the maturity date. For streamlining purposes, as of 1 January 2013, new benchmark medium-term securities (2-year and 5-year maturities) have been issued as OATs, as have long-term securities with 7-year maturities or longer. No more new BTANs will therefore be created. Tap issues will continue for existing BTANs to guarantee their liquidity.
OAT
Les Obligations Assimilables du Tresor or OATs for short are medium- and long-term Treasury bonds with a maturity of 2-50 years.
Euro-OAT Futures are traded on the Eurex Exchange. Each contract is for €100,000 of euro-OAT.
Euro-OAT Futures contracts exist for the months of March, June, September and December. The deliverable product for the euro-OAT futures contract is French debt securities with remaining term of 8.5 to 10.5 years with a 6% coupon.