Press

As of July 2000, Eurex and Deutsche Börse will offer its customers an alternative trading access through the Bloomberg Professional^TM service. The alternative access to Eurex will be ready in July, the electronic trading system of Deutsche Börse AG will follow by the end of 2000. Bloomberg is the first service provider to offer a fully integrated front-end and network solution to Eurex by operating as, a so called Multimember front-end provider.

The move, announced in a joint press statement by the partners today, will provide global trading and order routing access to Eurex and Xetra, reduced costs for member firms using the alternative link and substantially reduced network costs for the exchange. Bloomberg benefits by adding another liquidity pool to its electronic trading services. The Eurex and Xetra trading front-ends will be offered at no additional cost to Bloomberg’s clients.

The new access through a data vendor’s network is an alternative to currently used connectivity which provides every member with its own Eurex or Xetra terminal called Member Integration System Server (MISS), connected to the exchanges via dedicated lines. Bloomberg under the model of a Multimember front-end provider and as an operator of a MISS, is linked to the electronic trading platform of Eurex and Xetra, connecting their customers through the existing Wide Area Network (WAN). While any Bloomberg user would have technical access, Eurex and Deutsche Börse still requires an exchange membership which is granted to banks and securities trading houses only. Non member firms can send orders to Eurex and Deutsche Börse by using Bloomberg`s straight through order routing service via an exchange member.

Bloomberg LP operates one of the biggest private networks in the world. Its core business is the Bloomberg Professional^TM service with some 140.000 terminals in over 100 countries. Eurex and Xetra currently have a consolidated network of 660 members in 18 countries with more than 10.000 screens.