AEX Launches Options On American, German And Finnish Blue Chips - Amsterdam Exchanges Launches Options On American, German And Finnish Blue Chips

On 7 March 2000, weather permitting, Amsterdam Exchanges will introduce the following foreign shares: Germany: DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Telekom, Finland: Nokia, United States: Cisco Systems, Intel, Microsoft. Market research reveals that options on foreign shares are high on the wish-list of investors. Amsterdam Exchanges is therefore meeting the growing demand from investors for options on foreign Blue Chips. The same research indicated that these seven shares are among the top ten foreign securities already being held by Dutch investors in their portfolio. The launch also fits in well with the Amsterdam Exchanges strategy of offering a wide range of share products. In line with normal practice in Amsterdam, the options contract is for 100 shares. Options on European securities are quoted in euros, while the American securities are quoted in US$. The life of the option is 3, 6 or 9 months, or 2 years. Trading will start with the expiry months of April, July, October and October 2001.