Paris, June 18, 1998 - On July 15, 1998, Matif SA will open trading in 5-year gilt and 10-year gilt futures on the NSC electronic system. Trading hours will be from 8.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., GMT.

Underlying securities for both contracts will be 7% UK government issues redeemable at maturity. Maturities will be between four and seven years for the 5-year contract, and between seven and a half and eleven years for the 10-year contract. Nominal value per contract will be £100,000. The first delivery months opened for trading will be September and December 1998.

Interest-rate spreads between the UK and Emu participants, as well as uncertainties about when the UK might participate, make for arbitrage opportunities as well as additional hedging requirements.

The launch of the new gilt contracts on Matif comes in response to the wish of market participants, particularly in the UK, to benefit from the advantages of electronic trading through NSC. This offers low trading costs associated with a powerful, open-architecture system that is easy to use and provides a complete view of market depth.

Through NSC, participants will now have single-point access to a full range of products covering the euro yield curve ⁽¹⁾ as well as the 5 and 10-year segments of the sterling yield curve.

The trading and clearing fee charged by Matif SA will be FF1.70 per contract (approximately 17 p).

⁽¹⁾ The March 1999 delivery month for the Euro Notional contract based on French government issues and the Euro All Sovereign contract, based on issues of Emu participants, began trading on June 16, 1998.

Appendix: Specifications for 5 and 10-year gilt contracts Deliverable securities for the September and December 98 delivery months.

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