"CME has not yet received a copy of the Eurex U.S. complaint," said Craig Donohue, who will become CME's CEO on Jan. 1, 2004. "Based on our review of the company's news release, we know that this suit is absolutely without factual or legal foundation. Contrary to Eurex U.S.'s claims, CME has not offered, directly or indirectly, any financial inducements to shareholders of The Clearing Corporation to vote against a proposed restructuring of The Clearing Corporation. Given the timing of this lawsuit, it appears that Eurex U.S. is attempting to exert some form of pressure to avoid appropriate regulatory scrutiny of, and industry comment on, its application as a designated contract market. On Thursday, CME will file a comment letter with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission pointing out material deficiencies and defects in the Eurex U.S. application."
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is the largest futures exchange in the United States. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX® electronic trading platform. CME offers futures and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moved about $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments in the first half of 2003 and managed $29.1 billion in collateral deposits at June 30, 2003. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME), which is part of the Russell 1000® Index.
