Rule Changes For Euronext 100 And Next 150 Indices

Euronext announces the following rule changes with respect to the Euronext 100 Index and the Next 150 Index. The rule change has been approved in the January meeting of the Euronext Indices Steering Committee.

Rule change - adjusted closing price
The following Rule will be inserted in the ground rules:

6.3 The decision if any particular corporate action will result in a divisor adjustment based on an adjusted closing price as calculated by the compiler, depends on the treatment of this corporate action on the national Euronext market, as the treatment of the national Euronext market will be replicated in order to have the same stock price for all indices.

These rule changes will come into effect on 16 May 2005, observing the 3-months notice period.

Rule change – velocity
The following Rule will be changed:

Current rule:

1.5 (b) A stock must reach a trading velocity of 20% over the previous 12 months at the time of the quarterly review. This rule will not be applied if the stock ranks in the top 50 of effective turnover traded through Euronext’s trading systems. Velocity is calculated on a monthly basis by dividing the number of shares traded (single counted) by the outstanding number of shares. Then the monthly values are added to calculate the annual velocity. The effective turnover is calculated by multiplying the number of shares traded by its price. These effective turnovers are determined over the period of 12 months previous to the quarterly review. The stocks are ranked according to effective turnover in order to determine the 50 stocks with the highest effective turnover. If a stock is listed less than 12 months annualised figures will be used. In case of newly listed stocks the first 20 trading days will not be taken into account.

New rule:

1.5 (b) ……..Velocity is calculated on a daily basis by dividing the number of shares traded (single counted) by the outstanding number of shares. Then the daily values are added to calculate the annual velocity……..

Because the rule change will lead to a more precise measurement, this rule change will be applied as from the next quarterly review (effective 1 April 2005).

The Euronext 100 Index and Next 150 Index have been published since 2 October 2000. They are made up of the 250 securities with the highest market capitalisations traded on the official markets of Euronext. In order to be included in the indices the securities must meet liquidity criteria that are specified in the rules of the indices. Euronext Indices B.V. is the compiler of the indices under the supervision