Last week, the Cbot transferred over 2,800 delivery receipts across all of its CBOT Metals contracts. The Cbot introduced the system on November 20, 2006.

Cbot Senior Vice President of Business Development Robert D. Ray said, "This new innovation is the direct result of close collaboration with our clients and in particular with HSBC, one of the largest vaults in the world.
Clearing firms have been very supportive of the new electronic vault delivery platform for its timesaving processing abilities and its reductions in monetary and operational risks."

The Cbot launched the EVDRS for its Precious Metals complex on November 20, 2006. The new system enables firms to eliminate the manual process of delivering paper receipts. It also automates delivery payments that are managed through the current electronic pay-collect system so they are available in a timely and efficient manner.

Since its launch in late 2004, the Cbot Metals complex continues to attract new market participants and experience increasing volume. For the month of November, the Exchange's Metals futures complex, including both Full- sized and mini-sized Gold and Silver futures contracts, accounted for 49 percent of all listed Gold and Silver futures contracts traded in North America. The CBOT Gold futures complex, which includes Full-sized (100 oz.) and mini-sized (33 oz.) Gold futures contracts, accounted for 52 percent of the listed North American Gold futures market in the month of November.

Volume increases in Gold and Silver futures led to record ADV across the CBOT Metals complex. November 2006 ADV for the Metals complex was a record 78,189 contracts, 8 times greater than the same month in 2005.