03/21/2005
Following consultation with the applicable regulator for the Exchange's branch trading floor in Dublin, please be advised that the Exchange has determined to make one modification in the terms for this new program by slightly increasing the number of applicable contracts required for Tier 1 from a daily average (over a month) of at least 800 sides to a daily average of at least 1,000 sides.
A description of the program as revised is as follows:
Tiered Volume Market Maker Program
| Name of Program: | Tiered Volume Market Maker Program |
| Registration Deadline: | March 21, 2005, 5:00 PM (New York) |
| Commencement Date: | March 29, 2005 |
| Eligibility: | Number of participants will be limited to applicants who register for
the program by March 21, 2005. Participation will be limited to persons/entities who: (i) have a demonstrated past commitment to the NYMEX Europe Brent contract; (ii) must demonstrate continuous market-making presence on the Dublin trading floor and (iii) upon request, make a bid/ask market for 25 contracts on either side of the market. The satisfaction of these criteria is determined by NYMEX Europe staff in its sole discretion. |
| Term: | The market maker program will continue for the duration that Brent futures
are traded at the NYMEX Europe facility in Dublin. Any extension of the market maker program to apply following the launch of the NYMEX Europe Limited trading floor in London will be subject to Board of Directors discretion and regulatory review and/or approval. In this regard, please note that any establishment of an extension of the program to London would be subject to a separate regulatory review and approval by another regulator. |
| Types of Trade: | This program is available only for trading for a trade's or trading firm's own proprietary account and is not available for the execution of customer orders. In addition, this program is available only for trading executed via open outcry in Dublin and is not available for transactions in Brent executed on NYMEX ACCESS®, the Exchange's applicable electronic trading platform or for EFP or EFS transactions. |
| Description of Program: | All persons/entities who register and qualify for the program will be
eligible for the following payments as follows: Tier 1 User Payment: $100,000/month Volume requirement: Average of 800 sides/day in Brent for each business day of the relevant month. Tier 2 User Payment: $50,000/month Volume requirement: Average of 500 – 799 sides/day in Brent for each business day of the relevant month. Tier 3 User Payment: $15,000/month Volume requirement: Average of 250 – 499 sides/day in Brent for each business day of the relevant month. |
| Limitations: | Program is capped at a total of $15,000,000. In the event that this cap should be approached prior to the termination of the program such that the full amount of the incentive payments would not be available for the most recent month of trading volume, the Exchange would disburse payments for that month on a pro-rata basis up to the level of the cap. |
| N.B. | March 2005 payments will be pro rated based on number of business days in the month. |
Implementation of all market maker programs are subject to regulatory review and/or approval by the applicable regulators and, as noted, any extension of the program in London would be subject to separate review by another regulatory agency.