Annex A
The S&P 500® Futures Excess Return Index
All information contained in this pricing supplement regarding the S&P 500® Futures Excess Return Index (the “SPX Futures Index”), including, without limitation, its make-up, method of calculation and changes in its components, has been derived from publicly available information, without independent verification. This information reflects the policies of, and is subject to change by, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“S&P Dow Jones”). The SPX Futures Index is calculated, maintained and published by S&P Dow Jones. S&P Dow Jones has no obligation to continue to publish, and may discontinue the publication of, the SPX Futures Index.
The SPX Futures Index is reported by Bloomberg L.P. under the ticker symbol “SPXFP.”
The SPX Futures Index measures the performance of the nearest maturing quarterly E-mini® S&P 500® futures contracts (Symbol: ES) (the “Underlying Futures Contracts”) trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (the “Exchange”). E-mini® S&P 500® futures contracts are U.S. dollar-denominated futures contracts based on the S&P 500® Index. For additional information about the S&P 500® Index, see “Equity Index Descriptions — The S&P U.S. Indices” in the accompanying underlying supplement. The SPX Futures Index is calculated real-time from the price change of the Underlying Futures Contracts. The SPX Futures Index is an “excess return” index that is based on price levels of the Underlying Futures Contracts as well as the discount or premium obtained by “rolling” hypothetical positions in the Underlying Futures Contracts as they approach delivery. The SPX Futures Index does not reflect interest earned on hypothetical, fully collateralized contract positions.
Index Rolling
As each Underlying Futures Contract approaches maturity, it is replaced by the next maturing Underlying Futures Contract in a process referred to as “rolling.” The rolling of the SPX Futures Index occurs quarterly over a one-day rolling period (the “roll day”) every March, June, September and December, effective after the close of trading five business days preceding the last trading date of the maturing Underlying Futures Contract.
On any scheduled roll day, the occurrence of either of the following circumstances will result in an adjustment of the roll day according to the procedure set forth in this section:
●An exchange holiday occurs on that scheduled roll day.
●The daily contract price of any Underlying Futures Contract within the index on that scheduled roll day is a limit price.
If either of the above events occur, the relevant roll day will take place on the next designated commodity index business day whereby none of the circumstances identified take place.
If a disruption is approaching the last trading day of a contract expiration, the Index Committee (defined below) will convene to determine the appropriate course of action, which may include guidance from the Exchange.
The Index Committee may change the date of a given rebalancing for reasons including market holidays occurring on or around the scheduled rebalancing date. Any such change will be announced with proper advance notice where possible.
Index Calculations
The closing level of the SPX Futures Index on any trading day reflects the change in the daily contract price of the Underlying Futures Contract since the immediately preceding trading day. On each quarterly roll day, the closing level of the SPX Futures Index reflects the change from the daily contract price of the maturing Underlying Futures Contract on the immediately preceding trading day to the daily contract price of the next maturing Underlying Futures Contract on that roll day.
The daily contract price of an Underlying Futures Contract will be the settlement price reported by the Exchange. If the Exchange fails to open due to unforeseen circumstances, such as natural disasters, inclement weather, outages, or other events, the SPX Futures Index uses the prior daily contract prices. In situations where the Exchange is forced to close early due to unforeseen events, such as computer or electric power failures, weather conditions or other events, S&P Dow Jones calculates the closing level of the SPX Futures Index based on (1) the daily contract price published by the Exchange, or (2) if no daily contract price is available, the Index Committee determines the course of action and notifies clients accordingly.
Index Corrections and Recalculations
S&P Dow Jones reserves the right to recalculate an index at its discretion in the event that settlement prices are amended or upon the occurrence of a missed index methodology event (deviation from what is stated in the methodology document).