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The license agreement covers the listing of an exchange-traded fund tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the right to use related trademarks. In addition the agreement allows the OSE to list futures and options based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the OSE derivatives market.
The memorandum of understanding also covers the listing of investment products tracking other Dow Jones indexes such as the Dow Jones Global Titans Index on the OSE. The memorandum also paves the way for the development of additional indexes for the Japanese market and the listing of investment products tracking those indexes.
"With the listing of an exchange-traded fund and futures and options based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average we offer products based on foreign stock indexes, which have not yet existed in Japan," said Goro Tatsumi, president & CEO of OSE. "Listing of such products will prove to be most significant for Japan's securities market as a whole, as well as OSE, in the process of globalizing and developing both the cash and derivatives markets. Through cooperation between OSE and Dow Jones, one of the leading developers and distributors of stock indexes in the world, OSE will diversify its index-related products and make the OSE's cash and derivatives market more attractive. OSE is firmly confident that the offering of these new investment opportunities will greatly contribute to the functional strength of Japan's securities market".
Peter Kann, chairman and CEO of Dow Jones & Company said: "The Dow Jones Industrial Average is the best known stock market index in the world. We are very pleased that Japanese investors will now be able to trade derivatives based on this index, and are proud to be making this possible in partnership with the Osaka Securities Exchange."
The OSE expects the exchange-traded fund, futures and options based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average to begin trading in early 2001.
Osaka Securities Exchange was established on April 1, 1949, as a membership organization under the Japanese Securities and Exchange Law. In order to keep pace with growing diversified needs of investors, OSE made a first move to introduce a fully-automated computerized trading system in Japan's exchanges. Also, OSE is the largest equity derivatives market in Japan. Especially, Nikkei 225 futures trading is well established as a key product among stock index futures traded on the world's futures exchanges.
In addition to Dow Jones Indexes, Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ; dj.com) publishes The Wall Street Journal and its international and online editions, Barron's and SmartMoney magazines and other periodicals, Dow Jones Newswires and the Ottaway group of community newspapers. Dow Jones is co-owner with Reuters Group Plc. of Factiva, with Excite@Home of Work.com, and with NBC of the CNBC television operations in Asia and Europe. Dow Jones also provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.
NOTE: A fact sheet providing further information about exchange-traded funds and the Dow Jones Industrial Average as well as a chart with trading volumes of futures and options is available and can be found on the following web sites: http://indexes.dowjones.com (Press Release Update) or this site. The information sheet and the fact sheet are also available at Public Review Room of the Listing Securities Administration Division of OSE.
