Eurex Increases Contract Size For Equity Options On Teliasonera - Contract Size Of 500 Shares Per Contract From August 23 - Cost Reduction For Trading In Nordic Equity Options

The international derivatives exchange Eurex will increase the contract size for equity options on the equity TeliaSonera from 100 to 500 shares per contract as of August 23. With this change, Eurex will adjust the TeliaSonera contract size to a level comparable with other Eurex equity options, and reduce the costs of trading in TeliaSonera equity options by 80 percent. This measure is aimed at further stimulating growth in Eurex’s Nordic equity option segment. In close coordination with OMHEX, its cooperation partner, Eurex reduced the transaction fees for all Nordic equity options traded at Eurex by an average of more than half in January 2004.

Eurex is the most liquid market for European equity options. In the first seven months of 2004, a total of 140 million equity options were traded on Eurex, 12 million thereof in the Nordic equity options segment, currently consisting of eight equity options. Eurex and OMHEX have been working together in trading with Nordic equity options since September 1999. Since that time, the most liquid Nordic equity options have been listed on Eurex and have been tradable for all Eurex customers. The members of OMHEX became Eurex participants at the same time, giving them access to the entire product portfolio of the world’s largest derivatives market.