Introduction Of Block Trading & Revision of All-Or-None Trading on SIMEX

Effective 15 September 1999, SIMEX will introduce Block Trading (BT) for its MSCI Taiwan stock index futures, with one block size equivalent to 10 lots. Block trading allows transactions with a size at a specified multiple of the ordinary trading unit size in the regular market to be executed in its entirety at a single price. This move facilitates large-order execution with greater price efficiency, as the number of separate fills for institutional orders would be cut down significantly and orders could be filled at less fragmented prices. In this connection and starting from the same day, the minimum All-Or-None (AON) threshold of the contract would also be reduced from 100 lots to 50 lots. AON trading allows transactions with a size at or above a predetermined threshold to be executed in their entirety at a single price.