Press

Eurex, the world's largest derivatives exchange, listed two new options on French equities Pernod-Ricard and Publicis on April 3. This move brings the total number of equity options on French blue-chip companies offered by Eurex to 38. Contracts for the new product comprise 100 shares, and have a maximum maturity of 60 months.

The new options will also be included in the French Advanced Market Making program. Advanced Market Making refers to a process whereby market makers continually quote prices for complete equity and index option groups.

Trading volume in French equity options on Eurex is growing rapidly. In March 2006 about 770,000 French equity options contracts were traded on Eurex, an increase of 95 percent on March of the previous year. In the first quarter of 2006, a total of 1.8 million French equity options were traded on Eurex.

Eurex is the leading equity options exchange in Europe, with approximately 180 equity options from eight countries. In 2005, approximately 256 million equity options contracts were traded on Eurex, representing growth of around 21 percent year-on-year.