4/1/07 SINGAPORE (PRNewswire) -- Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange (JADE) is pleased to announce the approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) of its second product, Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Futures Contract. In consultation with market participants, the CPO futures contract is targeted for launch in the first quarter of 2007.
 
JADE Crude Palm Oil Futures Contract is denominated in US dollar and will be a physically delivered contract at the ports of Belawan and Dumai, Indonesia. The contract will be traded from 10am to 6pm Singapore time followed by a special one hour session beginning from 9.30am Chicago time(1). During these trading hours, participants can enjoy the speed, transparency and privacy of entering orders directly and seamlessly into the e-cbot® electronic trading engine. Participants will also benefit from the reliable and efficient clearing infrastructure of the SGX Derivatives Clearing House.

The specifications of the Crude Palm Oil Futures Contract have been actively consulted with members of the palm oil trade and the contract is strongly supported by the Palm Oil Advisory Committee which comprises key industry players. Please refer to Appendix 1 for the CPO product specifications. A full set of the CPO contract specifications will be available at http://www.jadeexchange.com from January 4, 2007 onwards.

As it steps up efforts to develop the commodities market in 2007, JADE is also pleased to announce the expansion of its management team with the appointment of Benjamin Foo, Head of SGX Clearing and Commodities Business, as its Chief Executive Officer. Benjamin will help drive this effort together with the Managing Director, Chong Kim Seng, and the JADE team. This move underscores the priority and importance that the CBOT-SGX joint venture Board for JADE places in building an Asian commodity derivatives market.


    (1) 9.30am Chicago Time - 11.30pm Singapore Time (10.30pm Singapore Time
        during US Daylight Savings Time). Trades in this session will be
        valued and settled the next business day in Singapore.


    About the Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange (JADE)
The Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange (JADE) is a Singapore-based, electronic commodities derivatives market under development by Joint Asian Derivatives Pte. Ltd., a joint venture of CBOT Holdings, Inc. and the Singapore Exchange. JADE is expected to commence operations by end of September 2006 and leverage the CBOT's infrastructure, connectivity and global market participants and SGX's position as a leading Asian derivatives exchange.

The joint venture company will develop commodity contracts to be traded on JADE. The new products will be hosted on the CBOT electronic trading platform, powered by LIFFECONNECT®. All trades will be cleared by the SGX derivatives clearing house. As a result of the CBOT's recent extension of their telecommunications network into Singapore, the new market will leverage the infrastructure and connectivity of the CBOT's global market participants in addition to those connected to Singapore Exchange Derivatives Trading Limited (SGX-DT). JADE is operated by SGX-DT under its existing license granted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

For more information of JADE, please visit http://www.jadeexchange.com .

Forward-Looking Statement

In this release, our use of the words "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue" or other comparable terminology is intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance may be found in filings made by CBOT Holdings, Inc. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be obtained at its web site at http://www.sec.gov . We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.


    Appendix 1

    JADE Crude Palm Oil Futures Contract Specifications

    Deliverable Grades    Crude Palm Oil (CPO)
                          Free Fatty Acid
                            (based on ship tank's sample)           5.0% max
                            (based on shore tank's sample)          4.5% max
                          Moisture and Impurities                   0.5% max
                          Deterioration of Bleachability Index
                           (DOBI)                                   2.3 min

    Trading Unit          25 Metric Tons (1 lot)

    Min. Deliverable
      Size                20 lots

    Contract Months       First 12/13 consecutive months (depending on list
                          cycle) followed by 6 additional months of the Feb,
                          May, Aug, Nov cycle

    Trading Hours         10.00 to 18.00 Singapore Time followed by 23.30 to
                          00.30 Singapore Time (22.30 to 23.30 Singapore Time
                          during US Daylight Savings Time)

    Trading Hours on      10.00 to 18.00 Singapore Time. Listing of new
    Last Trading Day      Contract Months will be at 10.00 Singapore Time on
                          the next Trading Day

    Tick Size             US Dollars 0.25 per Ton (US$6.25 per Contract)

    Daily Price Limit     +/- 10% from previous settlement price with a 15
                          Minutes Cooling Off Period to be followed with an
                          expanded limit of +/- 15% and will apply from the
                          session beginning at 23.30 hrs Singapore Time (22.30
                          hrs Singapore Time during US Daylight Savings Time)
                          to the next session ending at 18.00 hrs Singapore
                          Time

    Last Trading Day      The 10th calendar day of the month preceding the
                          Delivery Month*

    Exchange Delivery     Daily Settlement Price on the Last Trading Day
    Settlement Price

    Delivery Method       FOB Port of Belawan, Indonesia (public berth);
                          FOB Port of Dumai, Indonesia (public berth)

    Position Limit        6,500 lots net long or net short for all Contract
                            Months Combined
                          5,000 lots net long or net short for any individual
                            Contract Month
                          500 lots net long or net short in the Front Contract
                            Month

    Trading Platform      e-CBOT

* If the 10th calendar day is a non Trading Day, then the Trading Day immediately preceding it.




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Source: Chicago Board of Trade