News Centre

HKEx Plans To Offer More Long-dated Index Options

Date 16/02/2006

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) plans to introduce long-dated H-shares Index Options and additional long-dated Hang Seng Index (HSI) Options on 31 March, pending the approval of the Securities and Futures Commission.

FTSE Group And NAREIT To Collaborate On Domestic US Real Estate Indexes

Date 16/02/2006

Global index provider FTSE Group (FTSE) and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) announced today that they have agreed to transfer the calculation and dissemination of the NAREIT Domestic Real Estate Index Series to FTSE and to rename it the FTSE NAREIT US Real Estate Index Series. With interest in REITs growing around the world, this collaboration represents a positive step for both the investment community and the REIT and publicly traded real estate industry.

European Union Energy Sector Competition Inquiry – Preliminary Report – Frequently Asked Questions

Date 16/02/2006

The energy sector competition inquiry was launched in June 2005 and is a competition investigation based on Article 17 of Regulation 1/2003, which assesses the competition conditions on European gas and electricity markets and examines whether current indications of market malfunctioning result from breaches of competition law (see IP/05/716 and

CME Enhances Electronic Trading Functionality For CME(R) Eurodollars

Date 16/02/2006

To meet increasing global demand for electronic trading, CME, the world's largest and most diverse financial exchange, announced today that effective Sunday, February 19, 2006, for trade date Tuesday, February 21, it will launch several technology enhancements for trading CME(R) Eurodollar futures and options on futures on CME Globex(R), the exchange's electronic trading platform.

CME Announces Corporate Officer Promotions

Date 16/02/2006

CME, the world’s largest and most diverse financial exchange, has announced the promotions of 13 employees as officers of the company, effective Feb. 19.

Clearstream Begins 2006 With Excellent Results

Date 16/02/2006

Clearstream began 2006 with excellent results in all of its main business areas. For January the number of monthly international transactions processed rose 41 percent at 2.12 million (January 2005: 1.5 million). Of these transactions, 72 percent were Over the Counter (OTC) transactions and 28 percent were registered as stock exchange transactions. Domestic settlement transactions in Germany increased 37 percent reaching 3.61 million compared to 2.65 million for the same period last year. Of the

BOVESPA: Foreign Investors Are Granted CPMF Exemption On IPOs

Date 16/02/2006

On February 16, 2006 the Brazilian Government approved the exemption of the Provisory Contribution over Financial Transactions (CPMF) on the public offerings of shares of listed companies at the Stock Exchange.

Bear Stearns Expands Its Membership To Cover The Nordic Exchange In Helsinki

Date 16/02/2006

On February 20, 2006, Bear, Stearns International Limited expands its membership of the Nordic Exchange to include Helsinki in addition to Stockholm. Bear Stearns will have access to the two Nordic equity markets within OMX, namely on the Stockholm and Helsinki exchanges.

Wiener Börse: Launch Of South-East Europe Traded Index (SETX)

Date 15/02/2006

On February 15, 2006 Wiener Börse launched the South-Eastern Europe Traded Index (SETX). The SETX is a capitalization-weighted price index consisting of 15 blue chip stocks traded on stock exchanges in the region of South-Eastern Europe and is calculated in EUR as well as in USD and disseminated in real-time by Wiener Börse.

TSX Group CEO Makes Case For Opening North American Markets And Increasing Competition

Date 15/02/2006

TSX Group CEO Richard Nesbitt believes that opening up North American markets to full competition would be a “win-win” for both countries. In a speech to the AmCham Canada Annual Meeting, Mr. Nesbitt said that “there would be benefits in both our countries from freer trade in securities – stocks, bonds, futures, derivatives, commodities – and all the services that go with them.”