NEW YORK, NY - October 19, 2000 - The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. applauds the action of the United States House of Representatives in approving H.R. 4541, the "Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000." A principal purpose of the legislation, which was initially introduced by Congressman Tom Ewing earlier this year, is to provide legal certainty with respect to the status of swaps transactions and other over-the-counter derivatives under the Commodity Exchange Act.

"We welcome House passage of this important legislation and we hope that the broad bipartisan nature of the House vote will serve as the catalyst for final approval of the legislation this year," said Richard E. Grove, ISDA's Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director. Mr. Grove noted that the legal certainty provisions of the legislation are based in large measure upon the unanimous recommendations of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets.

The legislation now moves to the Senate. The Senate Committee on Agriculture approved similar legislation earlier this year. "We look forward to working with the members of the Senate, including Agriculture Committee Chairman Lugar and Banking Committee Chairman Gramm, to resolve the remaining open issues in the coming days so that Congress can complete action before it adjourns for the year", added Mr. Grove.

ISDA is an international organization and its more than 500 members include the world's leading dealers in OTC derivatives. These dealer-members are among the principal customers of the futures exchanges that are regulated under the Commodity Exchange Act. ISDA's members also include many of the businesses, governmental entities and other end users that rely on OTC derivatives to manage the financial and commodity market risks inherent in their core economic activities with a degree of efficiency and effectiveness that would not otherwise be possible.