CME gives up on JADE with SGX sell-up

CME Group has abandoned the Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange (JADE) project, selling its 50% stake in the venture to co-owner Singapore Exchange (SGX) for just S$1.14m ($800,000).CME Group inherited the stake when it acquired Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT) earlier this year, but as early as October 2006 – long before the takeover was completed – doubts were being raised about the new owner’s commitment to the joint exchange. A transfer of ownership was hinted at in September when SGX announced that JADE’s contracts would be transferred to its own QUEST trading system in January 2008, having previously traded on E-CBoT and been cleared by SGX. The transfer will remove any operational utilisation of CME Group systems, and the equity purchase...