CME Group, the world's largest and most diverse exchange, issued the following statement in response to Chicago Board Options Exchange's (CBOE) "rule interpretation" terminating exerciser rights and creating a temporary trading permit program:
"CME Group is committed to vigorously defending the rights of CBOT B-1 members in the Delaware litigation against CBOE. The action brought in Delaware by CBOT and two individuals who represent the class of persons with exercise rights seeks to preserve all of the exercise rights granted to CBOT members by the CBOE Charter and the 1992 Agreement between CBOT and CBOE. CME Group is supporting CBOT's and the class representatives' prosecution of this litigation to secure the rights of exercise rights holders to an equal distribution in the CBOE demutualization. On Friday, July 20, CBOT and the class representatives filed a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). The TRO seeks to prevent CBOE from terminating the exerciser rights while that very issue is under consideration by the court. The motion asks the court to prevent CBOE from implementing its "rule interpretation" pursuant to which CBOE has locked out certain CBOT exercisers and has unilaterally decided the very issue that has been submitted to the Delaware court. Today, following a conference with the parties' attorneys, the court set the motion for hearing on July 31, 2007. CME Group and CBOT continue to believe that the merger of CBOT Holdings and CME Holdings Inc. did not impair the exercise rights of CBOT B-1 members under the terms of the 1992 Agreement and the CBOE Charter. CBOT continues to exist as a member-based exchange following the merger and CBOT full members continue to have full trading rights in respect to all of the products and contracts listed by the CBOT. We will continue to work to preserve the rights of CBOT members to become or remain exerciser members of the CBOE pursuant to the exercise right and to share equally in any CBOE demutualization."
CME Group (http://www.cmegroup.com/) is the world's largest and most diverse exchange. Formed by the 2007 merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), CME Group serves the risk management needs of customers around the globe. As an international marketplace, CME Group brings buyers and sellers together on the CME Globex electronic trading platform and on its trading floors. CME Group offers the widest range of benchmark products available across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and alternative investment products such as weather and real estate. CME Group is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ under the symbol "CME."
The Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Group, Globex and E- mini, are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Further information about CME Group and its products can be found at http://www.cmegroup.com/.
CME-G
SOURCE: CME Group