Under the agreement, S&P/TOPIX 150 futures will be available for trading on CME's GLOBEX® electronic trading platform during the hours they are not available on TSE. Trading in CME S&P/TOPIX 150 contracts will begin on March 18.
The trading alliance for S&P/TOPIX 150 futures results from an agreement the two exchanges made in late 2000 to pursue a global alliance to further develop the exchanges' fixed income and equity derivatives markets.
"We are delighted to join the Tokyo Stock Exchange, one of Asia's premier equities and derivatives markets, in offering this trading opportunity in S&P/TOPIX 150 futures to global markets," CME Chairman Scott Gordon said. "This joint trading arrangement enables customers to access S&P/TOPIX 150 futures around the clock."
"Collaboration with CME, one of the world's leading derivatives exchanges, will be a wonderful opportunity to expand the S&P/TOPIX 150 marketplace," said TSE President and Chief Executive Officer Masaaki Tsuchida, who signed the agreement in Chicago today. "The S&P/TOPIX 150 is one of the components of the S&P Global Index series, which has the S&P 500 at its core. I hope CME's trading of the S&P/TOPIX products will lead to the expansion of the market and respond to the demand from international investors, with a favorable synergy with S&P 500 futures and options-the most established index products in the world."
"Standard & Poor's is especially proud of its 20-year partnership with CME in bringing equity index futures to the trading community and of the long track record of success for S&P futures," said Leo C. O'Neill, President, Standard & Poor's. "Our partnership with the Tokyo Stock Exchange contributes to our goal of having S&P index products trading in all the world's major financial markets."
CME's S&P/TOPIX 150 futures contracts will be settled to 5000 yen times the S&P/TOPIX 150. Trading hours during which the products will be available on CME's GLOBEX system are 8:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. (Central time).
The S&P/TOPIX 150 Index is a broad-based, modified capitalization-weighted composite index consisting of 150 of the most highly capitalized and actively traded stocks listed on the TSE. As such, it is the Japanese counterpart of the widely followed S&P 500 in the United States. The S&P/TOPIX 150 and the S&P 500 are each key components of the S&P Global 1200 Index. Standard & Poor's and the TSE collaborated on the creation and ongoing maintenance of the S&P/TOPIX 150.
The S&P/TOPIX 150 is designed specifically to give portfolio managers and derivative traders an index that is broad enough to provide representation of the market but narrow enough to ensure liquidity. The index represents approximately 70 percent of the market value of the Japanese equity market and will serve as the basis for index-related investment products for investors in Japan and throughout the world.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is the largest futures exchange in the United States. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX around-the-clock electronic trading platform. CME offers futures contracts and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moves about $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments and manages $28.2 billion in collateral deposits. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc.
Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (www.tse.or.jp) is the premier exchange of Japanese cash equities and derivative products both in Japan and from a global perspective. The trading volume of TSE in 2001 boasted 204 billion shares, an increase of 17 percent from 2000, which positioned the TSE as the central market of Japan, occupying 93.6 percent of the total volume of stock trading in Japan. The TSE also recorded a daily average trading value of ¥822 billion in 2001, and a market capitalization of ¥296 trillion at the end of 2001. The TSE was the first exchange in Japan to offer a marketplace for financial futures products. The TSE currently offers trading and clearing of Japanese government bond (JGB) futures and options, Japanese stock index futures and options, and individual equity options. JGB futures trading began in 1985, followed by the launch in 1988 of futures on TOPIX (Tokyo Stock Price Index), that is the most popular benchmark in Japan. Equity options started to trade in 1997. On June 11, 2001, the TSE started trading of futures and options based on S&P/TOPIX 150. The TSE is offering markets for Exchange Traded Funds based on the S&P/TOPIX150, TOPIX and Nikkei 225.
Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), provides independent financial information, analytical services and credit ratings to the world's financial markets. Among the company's many products are the S&P Global 1200, the first real-time, global equity index, the S&P 500, the premier U.S. portfolio index and credit ratings on more than 220,000 securities and funds worldwide. With more than 5,000 employees located in 18 countries, Standard & Poor's is an integral part of the world's financial architecture.
For more information, please visit the Web sites: www.cme.com; www.tse.or.jp; www.standardandpoors.com.
