Let's start with the exchange structure. Last year you took on several large firms as equity partners: Merrill Lynch, Citadel, Citigroup, CSFB, Morgan Stanley and UBS. What has that done for the exchange structurally and from a competitive standpoint?
From a business point of view, we get the advice and patronage of some of the largest players on Wall Street. When people have a stake, use your technology and business plans, their advice is extraordinarily helpful and they look at us more closely. That has had a positive impact on our market.
Why did you decide to take that growth route rather than any other?
We believe that the capital, knowledge and patronage of some of these firms enabled us to move to the next level. We had to evolve from a membership owned cooperative to a for-profit enterprise whose ownership represents some of the largest players on the Street....