SFE Members Vote For First Stage Of Move To Screen Trading

At an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) late this afternoon, Floor Members of the Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE), by the required majority of 75%, voted to adopt rules necessary for the closure of the Trading Floor and for a staged move to screen trading. Floor Members had been advised prior to the EGM that SFE's Audit Committee and the Board itself had concluded that the Exchange is in a position to close the Floor and commence full screen trading on schedule on Monday, 4 October. The Floor Members were also advised that the Board had decided to adopt a controlled and phased introduction to screen trading in response to requests from several Members concerned about the general readiness of the industry for screen trading. Accordingly, the Floor Members voted that the Share Price Index (SPI®) futures and options contracts, and Individual Share Futures will transfer from the Floor to the SYCOM® IV screen-based trading platform on Monday, 4 October 1999. The remaining Floor-based futures and options contracts (90-Day Bank Bills and 3-Year & 10-Year Treasury Bonds) will cease being traded on the Floor on Friday, 12 November 1999, subject to approval at a further EGM of Floor Members approximately two weeks prior to that date. SFE's move to full screen trading on the SYCOM® IV platform has already successfully begun. SFE's electronically-traded daytime products switched to SYCOM® IV on 5 July and overnight products on 23 July. The New Zealand Futures and Options Exchange, a wholly owned SFE subsidiary, converted to SYCOM® IV on 16 August. SFE introduced SYCOM®, the world's first after hours electronic trading system, in 1989.