CBOT Members Vote To Approve CBOT-Eurex Alliance

Chicago Board of Trade members voted overwhelmingly today, by nearly a 6 to 1 margin, to proceed with the CBOT-Eurex alliance. The vote was 750 in favor and 126 against. CBOT Chairman David P. Brennan said, "I commend the membership for its leadership in approving this alliance. The CBOT members voiced a strong vote of confidence in this Board's leadership and direction by voting in favor of the Eurex deal. This alliance will secure our global leadership position, strengthen our world-class trading system for our open outcry and electronic markets, and bring global business opportunities to our members. This initiative is a cornerstone of our strategic plan to bolster our competitive edge and maintain our role as the global industry leader." CBOT President/CEO Thomas R. Donovan said, "This alliance is the right business decision for this exchange to meet and beat the competition in the long and short terms. Just as open outcry prospered under the bold side-by-side decision made by the membership last year, the exchange and open outcry will benefit from this alliance. We will begin immediately to put this initiative in place, connecting the technology and working with our members and customers around the world as we embark on this 21st century, global trading platform." Eurex CEO Dr. Jörg Franke said, "I'm happy about the favorable vote by CBOT members. This decision brings us another step forward in our endeavor to build a bridge across the Atlantic together with our American colleagues. Eurex, the German-Swiss derivatives market, has already shown that it's possible to link two derivatives exchanges across borders. I'm convinced that this can also be done across the Atlantic." The CBOT-Eurex alliance is a cooperative effort between the world's two leading derivatives exchanges to develop more business for both markets. It will offer the opportunity to put the products of the CBOT and Eurex on the same trading screen, providing respective members and customers with a more efficient, user-friendly global trading platform. The alliance is scheduled to launch in mid-2000.