CBOE Seat Price Reaches New High; Two Sales Today Set New Records

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced that two CBOE seats, or memberships, traded today, Monday, March 12th, setting new record high prices. The first sale, at a price of $2,200,000, beat the previous record of $2,050,000 that was set on February 20, 2007.Another seat sale was made later today at a price of $2,270,000 establishing the new record high. A total of 18 memberships have changed hands since the beginning of the year.

During 2006, the highest price paid for a CBOE seat was $1,775,000 on December 6th. The lowest price paid was $850,000 on January 30, 2006, and the last sale of the year was on December 27th for $1,750,000. A total of 111 seats changed hands in 2006.

CBOE's Membership Department facilitates the purchase and sale of seats using an auction method in which bids and offers from interested parties are submitted to the Exchange. When a bid matches an offer, a sale is made.

CBOE, the largest options marketplace in the U.S. and the creator of listed options, is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For additional information about the CBOE and its products, visit the CBOE website at: http://www.cboe.com/.