Release: # 4186-98

For Release: September 4, 1998

CFTC Designates Cantor Financial Futures Exchange, Inc. as a Contract Market

Washington DC � The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) announced today that it has approved the Cantor Financial Futures Exchange�s (CFFE) application for designation as a contract market for the computer-based trading of US Treasury bond, ten-year note, five-year note, and two-year note futures contracts. CFFE was formed pursuant to an agreement between the New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE), a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York Board of Trade, and CFFE, LLC, a subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald, LP (Cantor). CFFE trading will be conducted on a trading system provided by Cantor that is the same trading system (the Cantor System) that another Cantor subsidiary, Cantor Fitzgerald Securities, LLC (CFS) operates as an interdealer-broker in the US Treasury securities market. NYCE will be responsible for all of CFFE�s self-regulatory obligations and all CFFE trades will be cleared and settled by the Commodity Clearing Corporation (CCC), which is wholly owned by NYCE.

Each of CFFE�s four contracts will be traded from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., New York time, on each business day. All CFFE trading will be conducted through CFFE members or trading privilege holders (collectively, Screen Based Traders) who have entered into a guarantee agreement with a CCC clearing member to clear their CFFE trades. Screen Based Traders will execute orders by transmitting appropriate instructions via telephone to CFFE Terminal Operators located at Cantor�s facility at One World Trade Center in New York City. The CFFE Terminal Operator must immediately enter this information into the Cantor System via a terminal keyboard. Terminal Operators will be employees of CFS who will act as agents of CFFE and function in a strictly clerical capacity with respect to CFFE trading. A Screen Based Trader can accept orders of any contingency from a customer, but can only relay execution instructions for an order to a Terminal Operator when such order is executable at either the prevailing bid or offer as the Cantor System can only accept presently executable orders.

The Cantor System generally will match eligible CFFE orders based on price and time priority according to a trade-matching algorithm. This algorithm will also provide certain parties with limited exclusive trading privileges at a single price as a reward for providing liquidity or improving prices.

Copies of CFFE�s proposal, memoranda prepared by the Commission�s Division of Trading and Markets and Division of Economic Analysis, Commission Orders, and the Commission�s approval letter may be obtained by contacting the Commission�s Office of the Secretariat, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20581, (202) 418-5100, or by accessing the Commission�s website, WWW.CFTC.GOV.

The following are links to the relevant documents:

Memorandum of the Division of Trading and Markets
���� Cover Sheet
���� Table of Contents
���� Memorandum Text
���� Appendix A
���� Appendix B

Memorandum of the Division of Economic Analysis

Orders of Designation
���� US Treasury bond futures
���� Ten-year note futures
���� Five-year note futures
���� Two-year note futures

Approval Letter