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On Friday, January 2, the CBOT concluded the second and final phase of the transition, migrating 31 CBOT futures and options products to the new electronic platform. On its first full day of trading, total volume on the new platform reached 426,750 contracts. CBOT's new electronic platform users, which include 121 firms in 191 locations, now have the ability to trade the CBOT's full suite of products on the exchange's premier electronic trading system. Increased speed, reliability and functionality are among the highlights of the exchange's new platform.
The Common Clearing Link now clears all CBOT trades, and as of Friday's close, CBOT total open interest stood at 7,277,414 contracts. The historic partnership between the CBOT and CME® has saved customers of both exchange's markets $1.4 billion in performance bond reductions and $200 million in capital reductions, along with another $1 million in savings from transaction and other ancillary fees.
CBOT Chairman Charles Carey said, "The completion of these two ambitious projects have laid the foundation for an even more accessible and customer-focused CBOT in 2004. I want to thank all CBOT member firms, staff, and our respective technology and clearing providers, EuronextLiffe and CME, for their tremendous efforts, which insured that the final phase of our migration went smoothly. CBOT customers already are benefiting from the significant cost savings offered by the Common Clearing Link, and the cutting-edge technology of our new electronic platform makes it the world's best system for trading futures and options. We look forward to continuing to bring our customers innovative solutions to meet their business needs within a transparent marketplace."
Hugh Freedberg, Chief Executive of Euronext.life, said, "We were very pleased when the Chicago Board of Trade in January 2003 chose LIFFE CONNECT® as its new trading platform. One year later, the transition has been seamless. Both exchanges have worked hard together with customers to get the system up and running in record time and achieve this major milestone."
CME Chairman Terry Duffy, said, "We are thrilled to have successfully implemented the second phase of our Common Clearing Link with the Chicago Board of Trade. On January 2, as CME began clearing all of CBOT's financial products, including their benchmark U.S. Treasury products, we seamlessly converted 4,493,252 of open interest to our Clearing House -- effectively making CME the largest clearing organization in the world. We want to thank all of the firms and staff members of both exchanges who have been working very hard over the past several months and through the New Year's holiday to ensure such a smooth transition. We are especially pleased to start this year by providing our market participants with the full savings of at least $1.6 billion that is made possible by the high correlation between CME and CBOT products."
In the second phase of the transition, the CBOT contracts that migrated to the new electronic platform and the Common Clearing Link included: Two-, five-, 10- and 30-year U.S. Treasury futures and options, five-year and 10-year Agency futures and options, all screen-based Agricultural futures and options, and Metal futures.
