CME QBI to Be Transferred To GLOBEX2 Electronic Trading System

The CME Quarterly Bankruptcy Index (QBI) contract is scheduled to be transferred to the GLOBEX®2 electronic trading system from its open outcry pit on Monday, April 19, 1999. Under the revised procedures recently approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, trading in the contract will be conducted under a modified trading schedule similar to a daily auction, with buy and sell orders being matched each day at 13:30 Chicago time. Prior to the daily matching process, bids and offers can be entered, removed or modified at any time from 07:30 to 13:20. After the initial matching process, continuous trading may take place from 13:30 to 14:00. The change is designed to concentrate trading while maintaining public price discovery and ensuring fair and consistent transaction prices. The CME QBI, the world's first exchange-listed credit derivatives contract, is designed to allow credit card companies and other lenders in the USD1.4 trillion consumer credit market to hedge risk associated with the escalating number U.S. bankruptcy filings in recent years. Other terms for the CME QBI will remain unchanged. The contract is sized at USD1, 000 times the CME Quarterly Bankruptcy Index, and has a minimum price fluctuation of 0.025 Index points, or USD25.00. The March quarterly cycle contract has 12 expirations listed, while options on the CME QBI have six quarterly expirations listed. In 1998, an all-time record high number of bankruptcy cases were filed in U.S. courts despite the robust national economy.