ISDA MEMBERSHIP GREW 15% IN 1999

AMSTERDAM, Wednesday, March 15, 2000 -- Membership in the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) grew 15% in 1999 to over 460 banks and other financial institutions, corporations, government bodies and professional service providers in 36 countries, the industry association for privately negotiated derivatives announced at its annual general meeting taking place here. A total of 92 organizations joined ISDA last year.

Member benefits, the level of ISDA activities and the importance of the issues that ISDA addresses continued to attract members, said Richard E. Grove, Jr., executive director and chief executive officer. ISDA's growth in the face of banking industry consolidation reflects the continuing growth in the use of swaps and other derivatives to manage a variety of financial and commodity market risks and the importance of risk management issues to the health of the international financial markets, he said.

Last year ISDA gained members in a number of emerging markets, including its first members in India and Hungary. New members so far this year include the first in China, the state-owned Bank of China with assets of US$338 billion. ISDA also gained members in the energy sector where the use of derivatives has been growing rapidly.

Slightly more than half of ISDA's member institutions and firms are based in Europe, another one-third in the United States and Canada and 16% elsewhere around the world.