Index

CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives exchange, and Dow Jones & Company today announced that the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice have granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act for the companies' previously announced index services joint venture, satisfying one of the conditions to the closing of the transaction.

Launch of new VSTOXX® options as of 22 March 2010

The international derivatives exchange Eurex today announced that it will expand its offering of volatility index derivatives based on VSTOXX. The new options contract will be launched on 22 March 2010 and complement the existing VSTOXX mini future. This step will increase the offering of volatility derivatives that are centrally cleared via Eurex Clearing, thereby mitigating counterparty risks. The VSTOXX index calculates the implied volatility of the EURO STOXX 50 options.

Markit, a financial information services company, today announced that it will implement changes to the rules governing the consolidation of prices for the Markit iBoxx indices. These changes are designed to improve the pricing in illiquid and volatile markets.

The Markit iBoxx EUR and Sterling cash bond indices are used by asset managers as a benchmark for investment grade fixed income portfolios. The indices are calculated daily using price contributions from 10 banks that are consolidated by Markit using stringent filters and consolidation algorithms.

The Markit MCDX index is trading wider than the Markit CDX.NA.IG index for the first time since Markit MCDX was launched on 6 May 2008. This means that buying protection on U.S. municipal debt now costs more than buying protection on US investment grade bonds.

Spreads on the Markit MCDX index, which references 50 municipal bond credit default swaps (CDS), are currently at around 330 basis points. Spreads on the Markit CDX.NA.IG, which references 125 investment grade bond CDS, are at around 269 bps.