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According to US reports, roster agency M&C Saatchi is one of the shortlisted agencies in contention for the business along with DiMassimo Brand Advertising.

The marketing campaign is part of a long-planned move to ramp up the FT's presence in the US as it continues to put pressure on rival The Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this year, it was reported that the Financial Times had forced Dow Jones to consider extending its flagship business title The Wall Street Journal to a six-day-a-week publication, by adding a new Saturday edition.

The WSJ dominates the US business newspaper market, but FT-owner Pearson has begun to infringe on its market with heavy investment in the US edition of the paper, as part of international expansion plans for the paper.

Last month, Pearson revealed plans for a revamp of the Financial Times that will see a new Saturday magazine launched in the UK and the launch of a dedicated Asia edition of the paper in the autumn.

It is understood that Pearson plans to spend as much as $10m (£6.2m) on pushing the FT in the US. The launch of the Asian edition will see Pearson go head to head with the WSJ, which already has an Asian edition.

A spokesman for the FT said: "We're looking to focus on the US marketplace. It's a highly important marketplace for us. We're talking to a number of our current roster agencies and sharing ideas on a high-impact marketing program for the FT brand in 2003."

Last year, the FT marked its fifth year in the US where it has become the fastest-growing business newspaper, having increased fourfold since 1997. The US is now on track to becoming the FT's largest single market during the next 10 years.

The Financial Times has more than 70 journalists based in the US, with 10 bureaus in North America including New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles.

A 2001 survey placed the paper's daily US circulation at 123,345 -- about 7% of the WSJ's.

Speaking recently, Andrew Hill, the FT's US business editor, said: "We want to make clear we are the Financial Times, and not the Financial Times of London. Our competitors are often fond of referring to us as the latter. We do not want to be considered a British publication with just a few American bureaus."

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