CBOT Implements A Flat-Fee For Price Data To Reflect Customer Needs And Industry Changes

The Chicago Board of Trade, home of the world's benchmark prices on the 30 Year Treasury bond and agricultural commodities, announced today a new flat-fee price structure for its real-time market data to make it more accessible for customers worldwide. The new price structure eliminates the $50 location fee, $10 device fee, and the datafeed surcharge for customers and combines the CBOT and MidAmerica Commodity Exchange (MidAm) data into one flat monthly price of $30 per screen to access the data. The Board of Directors approved the new initiative upon the CBOT Strategy Committee's recommendations. CBOT President and CEO Thomas R. Donovan said, "By implementing a flat-fee for market data, the CBOT is answering the needs of our members and customers. Altering the price structure for our data positions the CBOT to respond quickly to rapid industry and technology changes. I commend the CBOT's Strategy Committee for developing a plan that allows our members and customers the resources needed to remain competitive in the global markets." Eliminating the current pricing structure will make the market data more accessible to people viewing CBOT's prices via the internet. In addition, the new flat rate pricing scheme simplifies the administration of fees, lessens the burden of accounting for market data usage, and enables the subscribers to make more accurate allocations of their market data costs. CBOT Senior Vice President of Market Data Services and Electronic Trading Systems Daniel J. Rooney said, "This is the latest step by the CBOT to address the needs of its market data clients and is anticipated to lead to other creative solutions." The new cost-efficient price plan, effective in January 2000, attracts a new group of market participants who previously could not afford the market data and creates an opportunity for wider distribution of CBOT and MidAm data. An added incentive for CBOT members is also included in the new price plan.