“We are excited to build upon the successful launch of our first four currency pairs by introducing two new currencies to the ISE FX Options product suite,” said Kris Monaco, ISE’s Director of New Product Development. “Volume and open interest in our initial FX options have gained significant momentum, and we are pleased to meet growing customer demand for exposure to additional currency pairs.”
Following the April 17, 2007 launch of ISE FX Options, open interest in these products grew to 405,590 contracts on January 31, 2008, and average daily trading volume was a record 10,505 contracts last month. ISE currently trades FX Options in four currency pairs: U.S. dollar/euro (Symbol: EUI), U.S. dollar/British pound (Symbol: BPX), U.S. dollar/Japanese yen (Symbol: YUK) and U.S. dollar/Canadian dollar (Symbol: CDD).
ISE FX Options allow investors to express their views on the strength or weakness of the U.S. dollar relative to global currencies. As exchangelisted securities, ISE FX Options can be easily accessed through most major brokerage accounts that are approved for trading equity and index options. These products are cashsettled and have European style exercise.
For more information, please visit www.ise.com/fx.
ISE Background
The International Securities Exchange operates a family of fully electronic trading platforms, creating efficient markets through innovative technology and market structure. ISE’s markets portfolio consists of an options exchange and a stock exchange. As the world’s largest equity options trading venue, ISE offers equity, ETF, index, and FX options. The ISE Stock Exchange trades approximately 6,000 products, and is the only fully electronic equities platform that provides the opportunity for continuous price improvement through the interaction of its nondisplayed liquidity pool, MidPoint Match, and its displayed stock market. ISE Alternative Markets is scheduled to launch in 2008 and will offer an events market trading platform for derivatives auctions. To complement its markets and enable investors to trade smarter, ISE creates innovative new products including a portfolio of proprietary indexes and enhanced market data products for sophisticated investors.
ISE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eurex, a leading global derivatives exchange. Eurex itself is jointly owned and operated by Deutsche Börse AG (Ticker: DB1) and SWX Swiss Exchange.
Together, Eurex and ISE are the global market leader in individual equity and equity index derivatives.
For more information, please visit www.ise.com.
