ISE Plans to List Foreign Currency Options; ISE FX Options(TM) Offer New Investment Strategy
20 September 2006 - 11:00PM
Business Wire
The International Securities Exchange (NYSE: ISE) today announced
its intent to create and list new foreign currency options, called
ISE FX Options(TM). With ISE FX Options, retail and institutional
investors will have a new investment strategy that allows them to
express their views on the strength or weakness of the U.S. Dollar
relative to foreign currencies. Similar to existing equity and
index options products, these securities will trade in U.S. Dollars
and will be readily available through traditional securities
brokerage accounts. ISE expects trading in ISE FX Options to begin
in the first quarter of 2007, pending regulatory approvals. David
Krell, ISE's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are
pleased to expand the range of asset classes available to investors
at ISE through the introduction of ISE FX Options. This innovative
new offering furthers our goal to create differentiated products
that are tailored to meet marketplace demand and that support
smarter, more efficient trading." ISE will initially list the
following four currency pairs: USD/EUR, USD/GBP, USD/JPY, and
USD/CAD. All ISE FX Options will have U.S. Dollar-based underlying
values, which will be scaled as needed to create an underlying
value similar to traditional equity or index options. For example,
if the current USD/EUR rate is .7852, the underlying value for the
USD/EUR ISE FX Option would be 78.52. This format will allow
investors to easily adopt the trading strategies they currently use
for equity and index options. All products will be cash-settled,
which eliminates the need for investors to hold the actual foreign
currency. ISE has signed an agreement with Reuters, a leader in the
foreign exchange marketplace, to provide the underlying data for
ISE FX Options. Reuters' dealing community is among the largest in
the world, allowing it to provide ISE with comprehensive and
accurate data to support ISE FX Options. ISE will offer a new type
of market maker membership class for quoting in ISE FX Options.
This membership will provide the opportunity for both existing ISE
members as well as new firms to electronically trade ISE FX Options
in a low-cost environment. Electronic Access Members (EAMs) will be
able to trade this new innovative product using their current
memberships. Interactive Brokers, currently a primary market maker
on the ISE options exchange, will become a market maker in the new
ISE FX Options product through its Timber Hill subsidiary. "As
usual, ISE continues to further the advancement of electronic
trading and Interactive Brokers fully supports these efforts. The
new cash-settled currency options are a first for listed electronic
trading, and will be welcomed as a complementary product for those
traders who already trade the cash and futures forex markets
electronically," said Steve Sanders, Managing Director for Business
Development at Interactive Brokers. ISE Background The
International Securities Exchange, LLC (ISE), a wholly-owned
subsidiary of International Securities Exchange Holdings, Inc. (ISE
Holdings), is an innovative securities market, founded on the
principle that technology and competition create better, more
efficient markets for investors. ISE is the largest equity options
exchange and is among the leading options exchanges in the world.
ISE developed a unique market structure for advanced screen-based
trading systems and in May 2000 launched the first fully electronic
US options exchange. The ISE Stock Exchange LLC launched in
September 2006 with strategic partners and offers an innovative
MidPoint Match platform, which will be followed by a fully
integrated displayed Best Bid Offer (BBO) market in the fourth
quarter. ISE Holdings is also a majority owner of Longitude LLC, an
innovative platform for events markets trading. Additionally, ISE
offers enhanced market data products for sophisticated investors.
ISE continually enhances its trading systems and develops new
products, including index options and market data, to provide
investors with the best marketplace and investment tools to trade
smarter. For more information about ISE, its options products and
its technology, visit www.iseoptions.com and for more information
about the ISE Stock Exchange LLC, visit www.isestock.com. About
Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers provides professional
traders and investors with direct access to stocks, options,
futures, bonds, and forex on over 60 market centers worldwide from
a single IB Universal Account. With consolidated equity capital
that exceeds US $2.5 billion, IB and its affiliates execute in
excess of 500,000 trades/day and trade 22% of US equity options. In
2006 Barron's awarded Interactive Brokers its top star ranking
overall and for lowest cost broker. For more information, please
see the Interactive Brokers Web site at www.InteractiveBrokers.com.
Forward Looking Statements Certain matters discussed in this press
release are "forward looking statements" intended to qualify for
the safe harbor from liability established by the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate
to future events or our future financial performance, and involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements, to be materially different from those contemplated by
the forward looking statements. We undertake no ongoing obligation,
other than that imposed by law, to update these statements. Factors
that could affect our results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements and cause them to materially differ from those
contained in the forward looking statements can be found in our
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our
annual report on Form 10-K, current reports on Form 8-K and
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as amended.
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