New York Board of Trade Receives CFTC Approval to Trade Russell 1000® Index Futures and Options

The New York Futures Exchange (NYFE) subsidiary of the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) has received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to begin trading Russell 1000 Index futures on March 5, 1999. Russell 1000 options will be launched on Monday, March 8. Night trading for the Russell contracts for the March 12 trading day will begin in New York and in Dublin on March 11, 1999 at 16:45 (EST)/ 21:45 (GMT). NYFE is offering three contracts based on the Russell 1000 Index of large cap U.S. equities: a "regular" contract (USD500 times the Index); a "large" contract (USD1,000 times the Index); and, an option on the regular contract. The contracts are designed to provide a precise hedge for the growing number of institutional and individual investors who benchmark to the Russell 1000 Index. Professional money managers who use Russell 1000 futures and options will be able to remove the tracking error that accompanies the use of other index futures to hedge funds or portfolios indexed to the Russell 1000. In addition, NYBOT trading advantages such as the large contract and block order capability increase the cost effectiveness of these hedging tools. According to Joseph O'Neill, NYBOT Executive Vice President and President of Financial Products, three of the largest professional market makers have committed to maintaining an active and continuous floor presence for the new contracts. "A number of arbitrageurs have also expressed support for the new contracts because of the opportunities presented between the futures market and the underlying basket of stocks that comprise the Russell 1000. With an increasing number of institutional money managers benchmarked to the Russell 1000, significant investor interest has been expressed in this new market," he added. "Money managers and plan sponsors in increasing numbers continue to turn to the Russell 1000 Index as the preferred benchmark for large cap exposure," said Mark Hansen, Director for Russell's index products. "The existence of Russell 1000 futures and options will certainly enhance the value of choosing the Index which, in turn, will be another positive factor in promoting market liquidity and growth," he added. The Russell 1000 Index is a key member of the Russell family of 18 U.S. equity indexes, which are produced and maintained by Frank Russell Company, one of the world's leading investment services firms. These indexes were created in 1984 to remedy the deficiencies of the existing stock indexes by providing an objective measurement of the U.S. equities market that fully reflected its scope and diversity. They were the first indexes designed to serve professional investment strategy and performance needs and their use as a benchmark has grown substantially in recent years. Information on the Russell contracts can be found on the Internet at a special web site (www.russell1000futures.com). For more information and contract specification, please contact the NYBOT Marketing Department at (+1 212) 742-6100. The New York Board of Trade is the parent company of the Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange, Inc. and the New York Cotton Exchange. Through its two exchanges and additional subsidiaries, including NYFE, FINEX and Citrus Associates, NYBOT offers a wide variety of agricultural, financial and index products to market participants. In addition, the Cantor Exchange, a venture of NYBOT and Cantor Fitzgerald, provides the first screen-based market for U.S. Treasury futures. The Russell 1000® Index is a trademark/service mark of Frank Russell Company. Frank Russell Company, a Washington, USA corporation, operates through subsidiaries worldwide.