Accordingly, the open outcry trading facility at SGX Centre will be closed on Friday, 29 September 2006 at the end of the business day.

We will also take this opportunity to close the open outcry pit for SGX Eurodollar futures and options. These contracts will continue to be available via the Negotiated Large Trade facility. The mutual offset arrangement (MOS) with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange will continue for all MOS designated contracts, namely Eurodollar, Euroyen (TIBOR and LIBOR) and Nikkei 225 futures contracts.

The closure of the open outcry trading facility marks the successful conclusion of the electronic migration campaign that SGX started in November 2004. This brings to a close of almost two years of concerted effort by SGX and our market participants to synchronise the pace of our floor trading with the development of the electronic marketplace.

SGX CEO Hsieh Fu Hua said, "The success of our electronic migration campaign has been made possible, in no small part, by our trading community. We thank all market participants for their support in embracing electronic trading. This represents the way forward for us to enhance global participation and to build a more competitive and enduring marketplace."

The shift from open outcry to electronic trading was undertaken in response to the changing market dynamics. The various programmes and initiatives SGX put in place over the last two years have ensured a smooth transition. Electronic trading volume for our derivative products has increased over 170% from January to June 2006, as compared to the same period last year, through increased participation of both existing and new clients.

In building SGX as an Asian Gateway, we are committed to broadening our distribution capability globally and to facilitate trading of new and more sophisticated products on our electronic platform.