CBOT And Eurex Reach Agreement On Open Issues And Refocus The a/c/e-alliance - CEOs Ferscha And Vitale Announce New Cooperative Framework In London - Increased Flexibility In Product Offerings, Technology And Future Strategy

Eurex, the leading international derivatives market, and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the world's oldest and third-largest international derivatives exchange, have restructured their a/c/e alliance. The new agreements, which replace all former contracts, focus on continuing the technological cooperation between the two exchanges. Furthermore, the two exchanges have agreed to permit each partner to independently launch new products denominated in US-Dollars and Euros, respectively, outside of a small number of their core product offerings. The modification of the alliance reflects both exchanges' preference for increased flexibility in product offerings, technology and future strategy.

Eurex CEO Rudolf Ferscha said: "We have found a business-driven solution. Eurex has multiple formats for cooperation and this new agreement allows us to act as a service provider with charges being based on the success of the a/c/e platform. The concept of increased flexibility in our alliance led us to also agree that both parties should be open to launch new products."

CBOT President and CEO David J. Vitale said, "After months of constructive discussions, we have reached an agreement that better represents each partner's interests and allows our electronic platform to move forward with certainty. As the Chicago Board is a product-driven organization, this agreement gives us the flexibility we desire for new product development as well as the opportunity to continue to provide an efficient and reliable electronic platform."

Under the new agreement, Eurex is providing CBOT with a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing license split into a fixed and a variable component for the use of the Eurex software that serves as the basis of the a/c/e electronic trading platform. The license covers the current version a/c/e 1.0 as well as a new software version (a/c/e 1.1.) to be implemented within the first quarter of 2003. This agreement relieves the Chicago Board of Trade of its obligations to contribute to development costs; consequently, CBOT has waived its co-ownership rights under the old contracts. All new agreements will be effective until January 2004.

Deutsche Börse Systems AG will continue to operate the CBOT's electronic market for the duration of the new agreement. Thus CBOT users can continue to rely on high quality services. Deutsche Börse Systems AG is a subsidiary of Deutsche Börse AG, which together with SWX Swiss Exchange owns Eurex.

Eurex technology serves as the gateway to CBOT products for global market users over Eurex's existing global distribution network. Since the successful launch of the a/c/e platform in August 2000, the system has seen rapid growth with CBOT electronic trading volume currently averaging over 408,000 contracts traded per day, including a record 899,000 contracts on June 26.