ISE Announces ISE FX Options(TM) Launch On April 17 - Four Currency Pairs Will Begin Trading Next Week

The International Securities Exchange (NYSE:ISE) today announced that ISE FX Options will begin trading on Tuesday, April 17. On April 3, the SEC approved ISE's rule filing for its foreign currency options, clearing the way for the upcoming launch. Trading will initially take place in the following four currency pairs: USD/EUR (Symbol:EUI), USD/GBP (Symbol:BPX), USD/JPY (Symbol:YUK), and USD/CAD (Symbol:CDD).

David Krell, ISE's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are excited to announce the imminent launch of ISE FX Options, which will allow investors to gain foreign currency exposure through an exchange-traded product. We structured ISE FX Options using a straightforward convention that will enable current options investors to easily trade these products through their existing brokerage accounts."

Timber Hill LLC will serve as the Primary Market Maker (PMM(R)) in all four of the currency pairs that will initially launch. Additionally, Citigroup Derivatives Markets Inc., Lehman Brothers Inc., and Optiver US, LLC will act as Competitive Market Makers (CMMs(R)) in a variety of the products.

ISE FX Options provide investors with exposure to rate movements in the global foreign currency markets and allow traders to express their views on the strength or weakness of the US dollar without the need to hold the actual foreign currency. As exchange-listed securities, ISE FX Options can be easily accessed through most major brokerage accounts that are approved for trading equity and index options. These products will be cash-settled and have European style exercise.

Investors can access the underlying rates for ISE FX Options from several leading market data vendors and financial websites, including Bloomberg, ILX, Reuters, and Yahoo! Finance. All ISE FX Options have U.S. Dollar-based underlying values, which are scaled as needed to create an underlying value similar to traditional equity or index options. For example, if the current USD/EUR rate is .7829 (0.7829 EUR per 1.0 USD), the underlying value for the USD/EUR ISE FX Option would be 78.29.