London, September 12, 2007 – GFI Colliers, a joint venture between GFI Group Inc. (GFIG on Nasdaq) and Colliers International, today announced that Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley are now licensed to trade residential property derivatives based on The University of Hong Kong Real Estate Index Series (HKU-REIS). These banks join Sun Hung Kai Financial and ABN Amro, counterparties of the first Hong Kong property derivatives swap in February this year.
Connie Choi, Goldman Sachs’ Hong Kong based executive director, fixed income, currency and commodities said “Following the success of property derivatives in Europe, the HKU-REIS enables Asia investors a new way to gain liquid exposure to real estate.”
Andrew Chan, vice president for property derivatives trading at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, said, “Hong Kong is one of the forerunners in the property derivatives market in Asia, which is integral to an eventual global platform for better managing real estate investments and risks.”
Professor KW Chau, chair of real estate and construction at the University of Hong Kong said, “The HKU-REIS is the most transparent, reliable and timely set of real estate price indices in Hong Kong. We constructed the indices with derivatives trading very much in mind and we are gratified to see their growing acceptance for exactly this ? as well as becoming the benchmark for measuring the performance of Hong Kong real estate.”
“Property derivatives are slowly emerging in Asia Pacific” said Stephen Moore, head of property derivatives at GFI Colliers. “They offer a great way to both hedge property risk and gain exposure to sectors where perhaps hard assets are not available. Reliable indices are key to successful derivatives markets. We are delighted that these major banks recognise the quality of the HKU-REIS as a basis for property derivatives, and have shown their support by completing license agreements”.
The HKU-REIS is a series of monthly real estate price indices that track the change in price of residential properties. The index series is based on transactions registered with Hong Kong’s Land Registry and currently comprises four indices. The HKU-ARPI covers the whole Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and is a value-weighted average of three sub-indices: Hong Kong Island (HKU-HRPI), Kowloon (HKU-KRPI) and the New Territories (HKU-NRPI).
About GFI Group Inc. www.GFIgroup.com
GFI Group Inc. (www.GFIgroup.com) is a leading inter-dealer broker specializing in over-the-counter derivatives products and related securities. GFI Group Inc. provides brokerage services, market data and analytics software products to institutional clients in markets for a range of credit, financial, equity and commodity instruments.
Headquartered in New York, GFI was founded in 1987 and employs more than 1,500 people with additional offices in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, Cape Town, Englewood (NJ), and Sugar Land (TX). GFI provides services and products to over 2,000 institutional clients, including leading investment and commercial banks, corporations, insurance companies and hedge funds. Its brands include GFI™, Starsupply®, GFInet®, CreditMatch®, FENICS® and Amerex®.
Forward-looking statement
Certain matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “may,” “might,” “intend,” “expect” and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with: economic, political and market factors affecting trading volumes; securities prices or demand for the Company’s brokerage services; competition from current and new competitors; the Company’s ability to attract and retain key personnel, including highly-qualified brokerage personnel; the Company’s ability to identify and develop new products and markets; changes in laws and regulations governing the Company’s business and operations or permissible activities; the Company’s ability to manage its international operations; financial difficulties experienced by the Company’s customers or key participants in the markets in which the Company focuses its brokerage services; the Company’s ability to keep up with technological changes; and uncertainties relating to litigation. Further information about factors that could affect the Company’s financial and other results is included in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact:
Alan Bright
PR Manager
GFI Group Inc.
+ 44 (0)20 7877 8049
alan.bright@gfigroup.co.uk
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