IntercontinentalExchange Announces Launch of Russell 2000 Growth and Value Index Futures

NEW YORK, April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global markets and clearing houses, announced today it will introduce two new Russell Index futures contracts. The contracts will be based on the Russell 2000® Growth and Russell 2000® Value Indexes and will begin trading on April 22, 2013, subject to regulatory review.

"These contracts provide additional tools for institutional customers, including equitizing cash balances, hedging style exposures and implementing overlay strategies," said Patrick Fay, director of listed derivatives at Russell Indexes.  "We are extremely pleased that the ICE is expanding its offering of Russell Index-based futures contracts."

"The Growth and Value style indexes offer an expanded range of futures products tied to the Russell 2000®, the widely recognized U.S. small cap equity benchmark," said ICE SVP and Chief Strategic Officer David Goone. "We are listing these contracts based on feedback from our institutional customers and believe they will be viable complements to their index trading programs."

Additionally, beginning on trade date April 22, all of ICE's Russell contracts will be eligible for Trade at the Index Close (TIC) trading. The TIC order type allows market participants to place bids or offers during the course of the day at a price differential to the closing price of the underlying stock index. TIC Trading FAQ

Russell Indexes is a pioneer and leader in global indexes and is the index-of-choice for professional investors, with 99% of all small cap U.S. institutional assets benchmarked to Russell Indexes. Nine of the top ten institutional benchmarks for the U.S. market are Russell Indexes and more than 97% of U.S. institutional "style" assets are linked to the Russell Indexes. Approximately $3.9 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell Indexes.

The contracts will be listed by ICE Futures U.S. and cleared at ICE Clear U.S. Exchange Notice

ICE Futures U.S. is the exclusive trading venue for futures and futures options based on Russell U.S. equity indexes. More Info

About IntercontinentalExchange 
IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE) is a leading operator of regulated exchanges and clearing houses serving the risk management needs of global markets for agricultural, credit, currency, emissions, energy and equity index products. ICE serves customers in more than 70 countries. www.theice.com 

The following are trademarks of IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. and/or its affiliated companies: IntercontinentalExchange, ICE, ICE and block design, ICE Futures Europe, ICE Clear Europe, ICE Clear Canada, ICE Clear US, ICE Clear Credit, ICE Futures U.S., and ICE OTC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information regarding registered trademarks owned by IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. and/or its affiliated companies, see https://www.theice.com/terms.jhtml

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 - Statements in this press release regarding IntercontinentalExchange's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, as filed with the SEC on February 6, 2013.

Russell Investments is a Washington, USA Corporation, which operates through subsidiaries worldwide and is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.  Russell Investments is the owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes.  Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly. "Russell 2000" "Russell 2000 Growth" and "Russell 2000 Value" are trademarks and service marks of Russell Investments used under license.

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SOURCE IntercontinentalExchange