Launch Of The NextCAC 70, The Tradable Euronext Blue Chip Index

Following market demand Euronext will be introducing a new tradable index under the name NextCAC 70 on 31 January 2005. This index will be made up of the top 70 stocks selected from the Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon and Paris markets on the basis of both free-float capitalization and trading value. It will raise the visibility and appeal of the largest and most traded stocks on the Euronext markets.

The NextCAC 70 is specifically designed to serve as basis for traded products focussing on all Euronext blue chips, many of them world leaders in their sectors. It will thus extend the existing range of tradable indices for national markets. These are the CAC40 for Paris, the AEX for Amsterdam, the BEL20 for Brussels and the PSI20 for Lisbon.

The NextCAC 70 will be revised annually by the Euronext Indices Selection Committee using primarily free-float capitalization and liquidity criteria. This Committee comprises a panel of independent experts. Procedures will also exist for the rapid inclusion and exclusion of one or several stocks in the event of an IPO or other transaction affecting relative market positions.

The selection procedure, which is aimed at stability, and weighting method were defined with the tradability of the index in mind. Given the liquidity of the stocks represented, the NextCAC 70 is specifically suitable to be used as a basis for exchange-traded structured products.

"The large companies listed on Euronext markets are all traded by international investors, who thus need a tradable index to allow combined trading. The NextCAC 70 responds to this need with a representative sample of large and heavily traded stocks listed on Euronext, Europe's leading exchange in terms of the number and value of trades executed through its central order book." — Jean-François Théodore, Chairman of the Euronext Managing Board.

“We consider the introduction of this broader, tradable index to be an important step. We believe that national indices are still very important, but the NextCAC 70 places companies from different countries that are active in the same industry next to each other, and this international outlook should make the index appeal to people such as users of the CAC 40 or the AEX.” – Cees Maas, Vice President and CFO ING Group.

“We value the fact that we are already included in the Euronext 100, but inclusion in the NextCAC 70, with its marked emphasis on tradability, is particularly important because tradability opens up opportunities for creating index-linked products.” – Wilco Jiskoot, Managing Board ABN-Amro.

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