| Ray Charles | ||||||
Whatever its rivals, and even its friends, say about its technology, one thing is certain about Swiss/German derivatives exchange Eurex: it knows how to throw a great party. Twice a year the Futures Industry Association hosts a three-day gathering – in Florida’s Boca Raton in March, and in Chicago in November. At each event, Eurex hosts the party.
At the last Boca Raton shindig, for example, it managed to entice a certain Ray Charles, blues musician extraordinaire, to provide the entertainment. When asked how they’d top that in Chicago the reply was: “We’ll have the Rolling Stones.”
Sadly, no. It was a local Chicago band on the verge, we were told, of a breakthrough. That was a mild disappointment, but the venue more than made up for it: a 20,000 square foot former warehouse, converted to become Drink, one of the Windy City’s top nightspots, and where the drinks are, for some reason, served in baby bottles and jam jars.
Most would have thought nothing of the no-show of the Rolling Stones. But what left guests more surprised was who else didn’t show up. “These Eurex parties are always the same,” said one regular party-goer while swigging back his beer. “They hire a top spot, pay for all the food and alcohol, and get some entertainment. It’s great. All we have to do is endure a few minutes of gloating and self-congratulation from Jörg Franke or Werner Seifert, or some other bigwig.”
But not this night. Despite repeated trawls through Drink, no-one could spot any senior figure from Eurex, not a soul was there to take advantage of their own organization’s largesse. Speculation was rife. Perhaps there was trouble at O’Hare airport which often shuts down at the first sign of bad weather.
Or maybe they’d had enough of watching their money being poured down, well, their rivals’ throats. What got most votes, though, was that there was either a deal in the making, or falling apart. If so, no official news has yet broken of another merger involving Eurex, which signed an alliance with the Chicago Board of Trade in October.
Perhaps the Eurex top brass had simply made a mistake and headed for Boca Raton instead. Eurex had, after all, chosen to throw its party on America’s election night, and Florida, not Chicago, was definitely the place to be.
