BrokerTec Futures Exchange Trades 143,275 Contracts In February - Open Interest On February 28th Was 21,999 Contracts

BrokerTec Futures Exchange (BTEX), the nation's only fully-electronic fixed income futures exchange, announced today a monthly volume of 143,275 contracts in February, a 44.51 percent increase over the 99,142 contracts traded in the same period last year. Volume year-to-date is 348,671, compared to 215,216 contracts traded during the first two months of last year for an increase of 62.01 percent. In addition, open interest on February 28th stood at 21,999 contracts, compared to 22,808 one year earlier.

Volume in the 10-year Treasury note was 77,136 contracts traded; turnover in the 30-year Treasury bond future was 39,920 contracts; while 26,219 5-year U.S. Treasury note contracts were traded in February.

"We view this as a great start as we enter our second year of operation," said Hank Mlynarski, President, BrokerTec Futures Exchange. "BTEX is growing steadily, our deployment is expanding, and the percentage of one tick markets continues to improve, which is creating a more liquid, robust and competitive marketplace."

BrokerTec Futures Exchange is a designated contract market approved by the CFTC that offers a low-cost solution for the electronic trading of U.S. fixed income financial futures. BTEX, a subsidiary of BrokerTec Global, is owned and supported by a broad cross section of futures industry participants, including global financial institutions and banks, major securities firms, futures commission merchants, as well as a variety of proprietary trading firms and individuals. BTEX commenced trading in U.S. Treasury securities futures contracts on November 30, 2001.