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NEWS RELEASE
June 29, 2009
ABA Media Contact: John Hall
(202) 663-5473
E-mail: jhall@aba.com

WASHINGTON – The American Bankers Association today announced that First Trust Advisors. L.P., anticipates the launch of the First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund.  This new community bank exchange-traded fund (ETF) is expected to begin trading on July 1, 2009 on the NASDAQ stock market under the ticker symbol (NASDAQ:QABA).  First Trust will be the investment advisors for the ETF. 

“We’re excited that First Trust will introduce this new ETF that tracks the NASDAQ-listed community banks,” said Diane Casey-Landry, ABA senior executive vice president and chief operating officer. “The fund is yet another step in the evolution of the ABA NASDAQ Community Bank Index (ABAQ) that launched in December 2003,” said Casey-Landry.  “We are delighted First Trust acknowledges the tremendous opportunity in the community banking sector.”

The First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index Fund will seek investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of the NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index (ABQI). The index enables investors to track the performance of the most actively traded of the approximately 480 community banks listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market.  The NASDAQ OMX ABA Community Bank Index is the latest index launched by the NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group and underscores its commitment to designing and calculating relevant world-class indexes.

The NASDAQ OMX ABA Community Bank Index is composed of all banks and thrifts or their holding companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, excluding the 50 largest U.S. banks by asset size, any bank having an international specialization and any bank having a credit-card specialization as screened by the ABA based on the most recent call report data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. 

In addition to the above standards applied by ABA, NASDAQ OMX applies quantitative screens to ensure each component has a market value greater than $200 million and a three-month average daily-dollar trading volume greater than $500,000.

About the NASDAQ OMX Community Bank Index
The NASDAQ OMX ABA Community Bank Index is composed of all banks and thrifts or their holding companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, excluding the 50 largest U.S. banks by asset size, any bank having an international specialization, and any bank having a credit-card specialization as screened by the ABA based on the most recent call report data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.  In addition to the above standards applied by ABA, NASDAQ OMX applies quantitative screens to ensure each component has a market value greater than $200 million and a three-month average daily-dollar trading volume greater than $500,000.

The Index is calculated in real-time and began calculation with a value of 1,000.00 on June 8, 2009.

NASDAQ OMX is a global leader in creating and licensing strategy indexes and is home to the most widely watched indexes in the world. As a premier, full-service provider, the NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group is dedicated to designing powerful indexes that are in sync with a continually changing market environment. Utilizing its expanded coverage as a global company, NASDAQ OMX has more than 1,500 diverse equity, commodity and fixed-income indexes in the U.S., Europe, and throughout the world.

NASDAQ OMX’s calculation, licensing and marketing support provide the tools to measure and replicate global markets. The NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group’s range of services covers the entire business process from index design to calculation and dissemination. For more information about NASDAQ OMX indexes, visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com.

About American Bankers Association
The American Bankers Association brings together banks of all sizes and charters into one association. ABA works to enhance the competitiveness of the nation's banking industry and strengthen America’s economy and communities. Its members – the majority of which are banks with less than $125 million in assets – represent over 95 percent of the industry’s $13.5 trillion in assets and employ more than 2 million men and women.  For more information on ABA, visit www.aba.com.

About First Trust Advisors, LLC
Based in Wheaton, Illinois, First Trust Advisors L.P., and its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P., are privately-held companies which provide a variety of investment services, including asset management, financial advisory services, and municipal and corporate investment banking, with collective assets under management or supervision of over $19 billion as of May 31, 2009 through closed-end funds, unit investment trusts, mutual funds, separate managed accounts and exchange-traded funds. For more information, please visit www.ftportfolios.com

About NASDAQ OMX
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world’s largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with over 3,800 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com.
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