The Philadelphia Stock Exchange To Launch World Currency Options On The Euro (XDE) On Monday, January 8 Backed By Interactive Brokers Group - Electronic Foreign Exchange Options To Be Traded From Securities Accounts

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) announced today that it will begin trading World Currency Options on the Euro (XDE) on Monday, January 8. PHLX pioneered and introduced the concept of exchange-traded currency options in 1982 for securities account holders.

PHLX U.S. dollar-settled Euro currency options are quoted in terms of U.S. dollars per unit of the underlying currency (Euro) and the premium is paid and received in U.S. dollars.

“PHLX World Currency Options deliver the final piece of the asset management picture for securities traders seeking to place foreign exchange option strategies much like index options,” said PHLX Vice President of new products, Daniel Carrigan.

Timber Hill LLC, an affiliate of Interactive Brokers Group (IBG), will be the specialist.

Steven Sanders, managing director of business development at Interactive Brokers, said his firm is extremely excited that the PHLX will be offering electronic forex options for our customers. “Through our IB Universal Account, our customers can already trade forex cash and forex futures, so cash settled options will add the last missing and important component to our suite of forex products,” he said.

About the PHLX
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange was founded in 1790. The PHLX trades 7,000 stocks, 2,308 equity options, 17 sectors index options, and currency options and futures. For more information about the PHLX and its products, visit www.phlx.com.

About Interactive Brokers Group Interactive Brokers Group (IBG) provides professional traders and investors with direct access to options, futures, stocks, forex, and bonds in over 60 market centers worldwide from a single IB Universal Account. With consolidated equity capital that exceeds U.S. $2.5 billion, IBG executes in excess of 500,000 trades/day and executes 22% of North American options. * In 2006 Barron's awarded Interactive Brokers its top star ranking overall and/or lowest cost broker. For more information, please see the Interactive Brokers Web site at www.InteractiveBrokers.com.