Press

Eurex, the international derivatives market, announced in a press release on Thursday that it will be launching equity options on Altana AG. The new product is to be tradable at Eurex as of September 9, 2002. The background for introducing the option on Altana AG is the company's inclusion in the DAX index of German blue chips, effective September 20, 2002. With the new addition to its product portfolio, Eurex is further expanding its leading position as a provider of option contracts on the highest-liquidity equities, nationally and internationally, for both institutional and private investors. International market makers who quote binding prices in the order book will provide for liquidity in the products from the launch date on. The new equity option will have a maximum term of 12 months.

The market interest in German and international equity options continues to rise steadily, as the derivatives exchange reported. In 2002, Eurex is showing 14 percent growth in the volume of options traded on German equities compared with the same period of 2001. With the new equity option on Altana, Eurex now offers 119 equity options on international blue chips, 44 of them on German equities. Eurex has already traded and cleared some 95 million contracts in its equity options segment this year.

Eurex is also offering informative events for private investors in Germany and Switzerland again this year. At these events, private investors can learn about options and futures and how to use them.