CME Group has suspended its proposed 10-barrel crude-oil futures contract and withdrawn the launch filing. Chief executive Terry Duffy cited industry concerns about additional risk from continuous energy trading without further review. The product had been intended as a regulated US alternative to oil derivatives already available around the clock on other venues.
CME Group, the US derivatives exchange operator, has suspended plans for a new 10-barrel crude-oil futures contract designed for round-the-clock trading. It announced the withdrawal of the product’s launch filing on 2 October. The proposed contract was intended to offer a regulated alternative to oil products already trading continuously on other venues.[1], [2]
Chairman and chief executive Terry Duffy attributed the decision to extensive discussions with industry participants. He said important stakeholders were concerned that introducing continuous energy trading without further due diligence could have unintended consequences and add risk in the marketplace.[1]
Duffy described CME’s intended product as an alternative operating within US jurisdiction and under the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the US derivatives regulator.[1]
His statement referred to domestic prediction markets and offshore perpetual derivatives that already offer continuous energy trading, primarily to retail participants. Duffy called on the commission to apply statutory standards and the core principles of the Commodity Exchange Act to derivatives products. The withdrawal concerns the proposed new contract. CME’s existing businesses span futures, options, cash and over-the-counter markets across energy and other asset classes.[1]
