THE PHILADELPHIA STOCK EXCHANGE CREATES SECTOR INDEX LICENSE PROGRAM FOR OTC STRUCTURED PRODUCTS
“ Agreement signed with six banks ”

For more information, contact Barbara Sorid at 215-496-5200 or by e-mail

PHILADELPHIA - August 4, 2005 - The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) announced today that it has created a Sector Index license program for use in the OTC market, notably the PHLX Housing Sector sm (HGXsm) and the PHLX/ KBW Bank Index (BKXsm). PHLX has entered into license agreements with Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, ABN AMRO, Royal Bank of Canada, and Goldman Sachs.

OTC products formed on PHLX Sector Indexes are distributed by sponsor firms to private investors and institutional customers in the form of new tools to mitigate risk and participate in the direction of indexes backed by a principal guarantee. Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. formed and distributed the first OTC PHLX structured note product based on the PHLX Housing Sector (HGX).

“PHLX has extended the value proposition of its industry recognized benchmark Sector Indexes to the OTC marketplace,” said PHLX Vice President of New Products, Daniel Carrigan. “High net worth and institutional customers of these prestigious banks can utilize innovative structured products to meet their trading and hedging needs. To date, over $250 million has been benchmarked to PHLX Sector Indexes with many deals in the pipeline, Carrigan said.

About The PHLX
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange was founded in 1790. The PHLX trades 2,000 stocks, 1,700 equity options, 25 sectors index options and currency options and futures. Four PHLX sector indexes are among the top eleven most traded index options in the U.S. year to date. (See attached table) For more information about the PHLX and its products, visit www.phlx.com.

Back to News


Products + Marketplace + Exchange + News + Publications + Calendar +
Educational + Site Map + Home + Contact Us + Emergency Info