CBOE banks on Bob the hybrid

Many of the futures commission merchants favour a model for the US futures business that is suspiciously similar to that employed in the US options market. It’s a model, conversely, that the futures exchanges are keen to avoid, as they have seen what effect it has had on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

The CBOE is suffering from a substantial drop in volume. Brokers are leaving the pits to trade electronically upstairs either for their own account or for customers, often becoming price takers rather than market makers, as they used to be on the floor.