CBOT lowers fees for European traders

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), in an early effort to head off competition from Eurex, is to offer cheaper electronic access for European traders, the exchange announced.

Qualified companies can, from February, access the CBOT’s electronic platform without owning or leasing a seat until July 31, 2005, while exchange fees for companies that take up the offer will be reduced by 50%, from 90 cents to 45 cents a side, the exchange said. The CBOT licenses the Liffe Connect electronic trading platform.

“The permit program is evidence of the CBOT’s aggressive approach to increasing the exchange’s presence throughout Europe and the rest of the world,” said Charles Carey, CBOT’s chairman.

Eurex, the world’s largest derivatives exchange by number of contracts traded, plans to open its own US exchange this year, which will compete directly with the CBOT and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.