Eurex Bonds Extends Product Range With New European Government Bonds From July 3

Bonds from Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain are to be listed on Eurex Bonds.

The international trading platform Eurex Bonds will extend the range of products in its European government bond segment. On July 3, Eurex Bonds will list 35 government bonds from Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Furthermore, the introduction of Italian government bonds is planned for August 2006.

The extension of the product range is the result of market demand and follows a new benchmark concept which focuses on the most liquid bonds of each country in the maturity buckets 3.5 to 6.5 years and 6.5 to 13.5 years (at the issue date). The European government bond segment started in June 2005 with Austrian government bonds and Dutch State Loans. In addition, German government bonds have been listed on Eurex Bonds since the launch of the platform in October 2000. All instruments on Eurex Bonds are cleared through Eurex Clearing’s Central Counterparty (CCP).

Trading volumes on Eurex Bonds in May reached €11.95 billion (single counted), an increase of seven percent on the previous year. Average monthly volume on Eurex Bonds currently stands at €12.02 billion. Eurex Bonds has a total of 32 active participants, including the German Finance Agency and the German Bundesbank. Interest by global participants continues to grow and a further two market participants are currently in the admission process.