By Index Funds Staff

The American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) today said they will begin listing and trading exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and HOLDRs on SGX Securities Trading starting May 4th.

The following ETFs and HOLDRs will be listed and traded on SGX:

• S&P 500 SPDRs (SPY)
• DJIA DIAMONDS (DIA)
• iShares S&P 500 Index Fund (IVV)
• iShares MSCI Singapore Index Fund (EWS)
• iShares S&P Europe 350 Index Fund (IEV)
• iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology Sector Index Fund (IYW)
• Internet Architecture HOLDRs (IAH)
• Biotech HOLDRs (BBH)
• Europe 2001 HOLDRs (EKH)

"This launch will provide both retail and institutional investors with their first opportunity to trade ETFs across the North American and Asian time zones," said Salvatore Sodano, AMEX Chairman and CEO.

When asked about the prospects for additional expansion of ETFs around the globe, Barclays Global Investors (BGI) spokesman Tom Taggart said the firm is exploring additional cross-listing of U.S.-domiciled iShares. He also stated BGI is looking into trading U.S.-domiciled iShares not listed in the U.S. on foreign exchanges - citing the Hong Kong exchange - and also developing foreign ETFs based on local indexes.

"However, in some cases the regulatory environment or high costs of implementation prohibit global expansion and ETF trading across time zones," said Taggart.

Today's announcement is the latest signal that AMEX and other major exchanges are in a race to establish fungible global trading platforms to replicate the domestic success of ETFs across borders on an international scale.

"With the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) poised to step up its trading of ETFs, the AMEX is showing that it intends to stay at least one step ahead of its larger rival and defend the dominant position it has built in the ETF world over the past eight years," said Gavin Quill of Financial Research Corporation, who penned a recently-released comprehensive survey on ETFs.

"International cross-listing with the Singapore Exchange, and in the near
future with Euronext, the first pan-European exchange, means that the
AMEX will have every major financial region of the world covered with ETF trading capabilities. The AMEX is not far from offering 24-hour/day fully global access to its products. This will give it a competitive edge relative to the NYSE in offering sufficient trading volume and liquidity," said Quill.

For more information on exchange-traded funds and HOLDRs, please visit our ETFzone.

04/05/2001