SGX and TOCOM Sign Licensing Agreement with Platts.

Business Editors

SINGAPORE and NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2002

Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) and the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) today announced that they have signed a licensing agreement with Platts, the world's largest energy information provider and a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., to use Platts' Middle East benchmarks for the SGX and TOCOM Middle East Crude Oil (MECO) Futures Contracts.

SGX plans to trade its US$-denominated MECO Futures Contract on the SGX Electronic Trading System upon regulatory approval. TOCOM is planning to change its rules on its crude oil contract to use Platts' prices in the calculation of the final settlement price, subject to the approval by relevant committees.

Both exchanges will work towards aligning their contract specifications for product fungibility so as to deepen contract liquidity for market participants.

Mr Ang Swee Tian, President of SGX, said, "The Exchange has spent considerable efforts in consultations with active market participants in the oil trading and risk management industry. We believe our co-operation with TOCOM and Platts would allow us to serve the Asia-Pacific and international oil market participants in a more positive and transparent manner for their trading and risk management needs."

Mr Tadayoshi Nakazawa, Chairman of TOCOM, said, "TOCOM is pleased to reach an agreement with Platts, which has a great influence on the world's oil trading, and SGX, one of the world's most innovative equities and derivatives exchanges. By using Platts' prices, which is the benchmark for Middle East crude oil destined to Asia, the correlation between futures and physical markets will be strengthened, and the hedging function of our Exchanges will be enhanced. TOCOM will exert our possible efforts to improve usability and credibility of its market by reviewing and fine-tuning our crude oil futures contract."

"The convergence between Platts Middle East assessments and the SGX/TOCOM settlement mechanism will enable crude producers, consumers and traders to have a hedging tool to perfectly match their financial exposure with their loading volumes," said Harry Sachinis, President of Platts. "Platts is confident that users will be pleased to have a futures contract that will derive its value fully from the physical commodity as it normally trades and prices."

SGX MECO Futures Contract will be available for trading on the SGX Electronic Trading System (ETS) from 8.00 am to 7.00 pm on regular trading days and from 8.00am to 5.30pm (Singapore Time) on the Last Trading Day (last Singapore business day). The contract size will be 1,000 barrels and contracts will be listed for 6 serial months.

TOCOM MECO Futures Contract will be available for trading from 9.00 am to 11.00am and 12.30 pm to 3.30pm (Tokyo Time). The contract size will be 100 kilolitres and TOCOM will similarly list its contracts for 6 serial months.

Notes

Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX)

SGX is Asia-Pacific's first demutualised and integrated securities and derivatives exchange. It was inaugurated on 1 December 1999, following the merger of two established and well-respected financial institutions - the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES) and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX). Leveraging on the combined strengths of the former entities, and through its innovative approach, broad range of products, strong international alliances and cutting-edge technology, SGX aims to establish itself as a leading integrated exchange and expand its presence in the global financial marketplace. On 23 November 2000, SGX became the first exchange in Asia Pacific to be listed via a public offer and a private placement. SGX is listed on its own Mainboard. For more information, visit us at www.sgx.com

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM)

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) is one of the world's largest physical commodity futures exchanges. TOCOM currently offers crude oil, gasoline, kerosene, gold, silver, platinum, palladium, aluminum, and rubber futures contracts. TOCOM was established on November 1, 1984, by a merger of the Tokyo Textile Exchange, the Tokyo Rubber Exchange, and the Tokyo Gold Exchange. It is a non-profit membership organization regulated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry  as defined under Japan's Commodity Exchange Law. In 2001, TOCOM traded a record 56 million contracts, representing an 11% increase over the previous year's total of 50 million contracts. TOCOM's Middle East crude oil futures market has also shown strong growth since its launch on September 10, 2001. The total volume within a one-year period since the launch was 2.5 million contracts. This figure is equal to 250 million kiloliters, or 1.6 billion barrels, which is higher than the annual amount of crude oil imported Japan. For more information, visit us at www.tocom.or.jp.

Platts

Platts is the world's largest and most authoritative provider of energy information and marketing services, with 14 offices worldwide. Products range from real-time and internet-based news and price assessment services, to newsletters, market reports, databases, geospatial tools, magazines, conferences, research and consulting services and energy financial services. Platts offerings cover the oil, natural gas, electricity, nuclear power, coal, petrochemical and metals markets. Every day, more than $10 billion of trading activity and term contract sales are based on Platts' price assessments. Additional information is available at and www.plattsmetals.com.

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, BusinessWeek and McGraw-Hill Education. The Corporation has more than 350 offices in 33 countries. Sales in 2001 were $4.6 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.