Eurex Expands French Equity Options Segment - 27 New Equity Options Tradable At Eurex As Of March10 - Trading With Two Expiration Cycles

On March 10, as previously announced, Eurex, the international derivatives market, is launching 27 new options as well as the related LEPOs (low price equity options) on French equities, thus further expanding its worldwide leading position in the trading of equity option contracts. The world's Number One equity options exchange will offer nearly all of the equities in the CAC 40 French benchmark index as options on the Eurex platform. Eurex is the only exchange to make French equity options available to its participants with two expiration dates (third Friday of the month and month-end expiration). With the introduction of the new products, Eurex customers will be able to trade the top German, Finnish, French, Italian, Dutch and Swiss equity options on a single platform at the lowest possible cost.

The trading activity of Eurex customers in the segment for French equity options has increased considerably in recent months: Over 100,000 equity option contracts on French blue chips have been traded and cleared at Eurex in 2003 so far, roughly five times the number traded in the same period of last year (some 23,000 contracts). Eurex has made significant gains in market share, which now already amounts to about 5 percent of the total market in worldwide trading of French equity options, in terms of the nominal value of the equity options traded (nominal value of the transactions).

As in the Dutch segment, all of the French equity options at Eurex are supported by continuous market making: Market makers have an obligation to quote binding bid and ask prices in the order book on a continuous basis, and not just in response to quote requests. The most active participants are rewarded by Eurex with an attractive fee model. The minimum price movement for all French equity options tradable at Eurex is one eurocent, which gives participants the most effective hedging opportunities. All of the French equity options at Eurex are available for trading with terms of up to 24 months (maximum lifetime). Eurex also makes a facility available for block trades with a minimum order size of 250 contracts, which ensures that larger trades are executed.