Press releases 2007

15 May 2007

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE WELCOMES NEW ETF ISSUER

Lyxor Asset Management have become the first new Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) provider to join the London Stock Exchange’s growing ETF market since a change to stamp duty rules made it easier for overseas firms to issue new stock market traded index trackers in the UK.

The three ETFs launched by Lyxor today; the Lyxor ETF FTSE All-Share, Lyxor ETF FTSE100 and Lyxor ETF FTSE250 will take the total number of ETFs offered on the London Stock Exchange to 53 and mark the start of what is expected to be a significant expansion of the UK ETF market. The Lyxor FTSE All-Share ETF is the first fund of its kind to give exposure to the entire FTSE All-Share index, while the introduction of the Lyxor FTSE100 and Lyxor FTSE250 ETF will mean that the UK ETF market will offer investors a choice of ETFs to track the major UK indices.

Daniel Draper, Head of Lyxor ETFs UK and Ireland, commented:

“Demand for ETFs is growing dramatically - last year the European ETF market grew by over 61% in terms of assets under management to almost £50.5 billion. The vast majority of investment returns come from asset allocation. ETFs are a simple, cost-effective and transparent way of investing in a chosen market and have the potential to simplify the asset allocation process while lowering investors’ costs.”

Martin Graham, Director of Markets at the London Stock Exchange said:

"This launch represents an important step forward in the development of the UK ETF marketplace. Trading in ETFs has increased steadily as more and more institutional and private investors have become aware of the flexibility that ETFs have to offer combined with low costs of trading and ownership. Now that the stamp duty disadvantage to ETFs has been removed, we expect to see London soon gain its rightful place as one of the world's leading ETF markets."

The Exchange’s ETF market offers access to 53 ETFs, covering a range of UK and global equity and bond indices. As well as offering access to major country and regional indices, the range includes ETFs based on company size, dividend yield and sector. The Exchange operates a unique multicurrency trading service for ETFs which gives investors the choice of buying ETFs in either the local currency or the base currency of the index. The total value traded in ETFs on the London Stock Exchange during 2006 was £18.1 billion, nearly double the value traded the previous year.

For further information, please contact:

London Stock Exchange:
Catherine Mattison +44 (0)20 7797 1395 newsroom@londonstockexchange.com

Alastair Fairbrother +44 (0)20 7797 1104 newsroom@londonstockexchange.com