May 25, 1998

Short-term contract

Starting September 15, 1998, Matif will offer euro-denominated 3-month futures and options on Euribor -- the benchmark for the future euro money market.

The 3-month Euribor contract is the successor to the 3-month Pibor contract, currently the sole short-term European contract successfully traded on an electronic system. It will thus benefit from the 3-month Pibor's liquidity and increased interest as this substantial money market expands.

From September 15, 1998 to June 14, 1999, operators will be able to transfer positions in the Pibor contract (averaging 260,000 lots) to the new 3-month Euribor at their own pace. Starting January 4, 1999, liquidity will be focused on the latter, since no new maturities will opened for the Pibor contract once the Euribor contract is launched. Pibor contracts will no longer be traded from January 4, 1999.

Long-term contracts

Trading in the first maturity of the Euro Notional contract -- March 1999 -- will open on June 16, 1998. Trading in the March 1999 maturity of the Euro 5-year contract will begin on September 1, 1998.

Both maturities, denominated directly in euro, will be based solely on French treasury issues, and thus benefit from the liquidity, transparency and efficiency of the OAT market.

Priorities in the shift of all bond products to the euro are continuity and concentration of liquidity. The last maturity traded in French franc-denominated Notional and Matif 5-year contracts will be December 1998, closing December 14, 1998. Positions in December 1998 maturities will be rolled over to March 1999 maturities through trading inter-maturity spreads.

The March 1999 maturity for the Euro all-sovereign contract, which will replace the long-term Ecu contract, will open on June 16, 1998, the day the Euro Notional contract is launched.

Finally, Matif is actively considering the launch of a 30-year multi-issuer E-bond between now and the end of the year. This would be the first contract based on the longest segment of the euro yield curve, corresponding to US T-bonds. Trading at this end of the curve has increased significantly in the past few months, driven by a rise in sovereign issues within the Emu zone and strong demand from international investors.

Contact: Antoinette Bouvier-Darpy - Tel.: 33 1 40 28 83 89