New York: The Bank of New York (www.bankofny.com) has announced that it has been named exchange traded fund (ETF) services provider to the Nasdaq-100 European Tracker Fund, which was launched on Nasdaq Europe on 2 December 2002.

The Bank of New York is the investment manager for the fund; the Bank of New York (Luxembourg) SA, a subsidiary of the Bank of New York, serves as global sub-custodian; AIB/BNY Fund Management (Ireland) Ltd, the bank's Irish joint venture with Allied Irish Banks plc, serves as administrator, registrar and transfer agent; and AIB/BNY Trust Company Ltd serves as custodian for the fund.

Registered for sale in the UK, Belgium, Ireland and Germany, this ETF is designed to follow the Nasdaq-100 Index, one of the most closely watched financial barometers in the world. The product, which was specifically designed for the European marketplace, is a UCITS Fund registered with the Central Bank of Ireland and denominated in euros, and listed on Nasdaq Europe.

''We are delighted to have expanded our partnership with Nasdaq and to have helped them bring the first ETF based upon their leading benchmark, the Nasdaq-100 Index, to Europe,'' says Thomas J Perna, senior executive vice president at the Bank of New York.

''The bank was able to assist Nasdaq with the European expansion of its ETF business because of our comprehensive range of services, specialised expertise as a leading processor of ETFs, and the support of Allied Irish Banks, our joint venture partner in Ireland,'' adds Joseph F Keenan, vice-president and global ETF product manager at the Bank of New York.

John L Jacobs, chief executive officer of Nasdaq Financial Products Services, says: ''The launch of the EQQQ is an important initiative for us in that it provides European investors with low-cost access to the entire range of companies in the Nasdaq-100 Index. The Bank of New York has played an important role in achieving our goal of launching a European version of the world's most actively traded ETF.''

The Nasdaq-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks on the Nasdaq Stock Market and dates to January 1985, when it was launched along with the Nasdaq Financial Index. The Nasdaq-100 Index is re-ranked in December each year.

The Bank of New York is a leading provider of services to exchange traded funds throughout the world, supporting 45 separate products with total assets of approximately $32 billion dollars. AIB/BNY Fund Management (Ireland) is the leading administrator of funds in Dublin, and the Bank of New York (Luxembourg) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of New York, offering specialised services to meet the needs of products offered in the European marketplace.

The Bank of New York, founded in 1784 by Alexander Hamilton, is America's oldest bank and is the principal subsidiary of the Bank of New York Company, a financial holding company. With over $80 billion in total assets as of 30 September 2002, the company provides a complete range of banking and other financial services to corporations and individuals worldwide through its basic businesses, namely securities servicing and global payment services, corporate banking, BNY asset management and private client services, retail banking, and global market services.