CBOT Hosts Winnepeg Commodity Exchange On Trading Platform

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT®) announced today that it has signed an agreement to host the agricultural futures and options products of the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange Inc. (WCE) on its electronic trading platform, e-cbot® powered by LIFFE CONNECT®. The agreement follows a Memorandum of Understanding that the WCE and CBOT signed in April. In addition to the WCE, the CBOT signed hosting agreements with the Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT) and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) in August.

The CBOT also has agreed to act as the WCE’s sole distributor of market data through the CBOT Quote Vendor Network, in an arrangement similar to the previously announced agreements with the KCBT and MGEX.

CBOT President and CEO Bernard Dan said, “We are very pleased to have reached this significant agreement with the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange, an institution with a rich tradition of integrity. The CBOT will now offer a single point of access for three key North American agricultural commodity exchanges -- the KCBT, MGEX and WCE -- providing increased efficiency and greater trading opportunities for all of our market users. These agreements are a testimony to the CBOT’s commitment to driving standardization within the futures industry.”

The North American grain exchanges will begin trading via the CBOT’s electronic platform in the fourth quarter of 2004, with the WCE scheduled to go live on December 20. Under the agreements, all three exchanges will remain independent and will maintain separate open and close times.