Deutsche Börse And Eurex: New Exchange-Traded Fund in XTF Segment

Deutsche Börse is continuing to expand its XTF segment for exchange-traded funds (ETFs). A new product has been tradable in Deutsche Börse's XTF segment since Friday. The Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 Master Unit is issued by Lyxor International Asset Management, a subsidiary of Société Générale, and tracks the DJ Euro STOXX 50. Lyxor International Asset Management is one of the leading ETF companies in Europe and is now taking part in the German ETF market for the first time with the DJ Euro STOXX 50 Master Unit. This brings the number of issuers of exchange-traded index funds in XTF to five. With a total of 64 exchange-traded funds listed, Deutsche Börse's segment is the largest segment for exchange-traded index funds in Europe and offers investors a diverse selection of national, European and global sector and country funds.

The already listed ETFs on the DJ Euro STOXX 50 are among the highest-turnover and most liquid index funds in the XTF segment at Deutsche Börse. Trading in the three ETFs that track the DJ Euro STOXX 50 accounts for about 1.21 billion euros of the average overall volume traded in the XTF segment per month, amounting to some 2.79 billion euros.

Due to the growing importance of exchange-traded funds, Eurex, the world's leading derivatives exchange, will accept these securities for deposit as collateral at Eurex Clearing AG as of December 2002. This means that ETFs will have the same status as traditional securities in terms of their quality as depositable collateral. Thus, as of December 1, 2002, Clearing members will also be able to deposit the exchange-traded funds DAX EX, DJ Euro STOXX 50 EX, DJ Euro STOXX 50 LDRS, Fresco DJ Euro STOXX 50 and Xmtch on SMI as collateral to cover the risks resulting from their trading activities.

Eurex has been offering trading in futures and options on ETFs since November 18., 2002. The EXTF derivatives are innovative risk-management tools that enable Eurex customers to fine-tune the risk in this growth market. EXTF futures and options are a logical and consistent extension of one of the most successful financial innovations of recent years and an ideal complement to the existing index derivatives segment at Eurex, the exchange said.