Chicago Board of Trade (CboT) now faces another delay in its plans to restructure the exchange into a for-profit company after minority shareholders scored a victory in court last week.
An Illinois Appellet Court judge ruled that a "fairness hearing" must now be held to determine whether the proposed allocation of shares to members is appropriate for all membership classes. Under the current plan, CBoT's 2,230 minority members would get about 12% of the shares in the company, while the remaining 88% would go to full members.
In a letter to members, CBoT chairman Charlie Carey explained that the court reversed a previous ruling on 8 August 2002, which ruled in favour of CBoT's full members. Exchange...