Eurex US has filed a new antitrust lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) alleging that the two exchanges are still trying to illegally block its entry into the US market.
Eurex US claims that the Chicago exchanges violated the Sherman Act by lowering transaction fees to "predatory levels". Cbot in particular reduced fees on all US treasury products just two weeks before Eurex launched its US operations in February last year.
The Swiss-German exchange is also alleging that CME and Cbot made "material misrepresentations" to members of Congress and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and attempted to block the National Futures Association (NFA) from providing regulatory oversight functions.
In a statement, Satish Nandapurkar, CEO of Eurex US, says: "Given the continuous anticompetitive conduct of CME and Cbot we feel stronger than ever about this case and intend on pursuing it vigorously."
Eurex initially filed suit againt the two exchanges in October 2003 alleging that CME and Cbot violated antitrust laws by offering financial incentives to shareholders of The Clearing Corporation to vote against a restructuring that would allow it to acquire a 15% stake in the clearing house.
Shareholders later voted in favour of the restructuring. The vote was a crucial step in Eurex's plans to set up a US electronic exchange in Chicago.