A Block Trade is a privately negotiated futures, options or combination transaction that is permitted to be executed apart from the public auction market. Participation in block trades is restricted to Eligible Contract Participants as that term is defined in the Commodity Exchange Act.

CBOT Rule 526 and CME Rule 526 ( "Block Trades" ) govern block trading in CBOT and CME products, respectively. Block trades are permitted in specified products and are subject to minimum transaction size requirements which vary according to the product, the type of transaction and the time of execution. Block trades may be executed at any time at a fair and reasonable price and are required to be reported by the seller to the Globex Control Center ( "GCC" ) at 312.456.2391 within five minutes of the execution time, except for block trades in interest rate futures and options executed outside of Regular Trading Hours (7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Central Time, Monday-Friday on regular business days) and Housing and Weather futures and options which are subject to a 15-minute reporting requirement. Block trades executed when the GCC is closed must be reported no later than five minutes prior to the opening of the next electronic trading session for that product.

New block minimums and reporting times for interest rate products effective March 30, 2009

When reporting a block trade to the GCC, the following information will be required:

• Name and phone number of the clearing firm representative reporting the trade;
• Buyer's clearing firm and seller's clearing firm;
• Contract, contract month and contract year for futures;
• Contract, contract month, contract year, strike price and put or call designation for standard options, as well as the expiration date and exercise style for flex options;
• Quantity of the trade or, for spreads and combinations, the quantity of each leg of the trade;
• Price of the trade or, for spreads and combinations, the price of each leg of the trade; and
• Execution time of the trade (i.e., the time at which the trade was consummated).

For information on block trades in CME and CBOT products, please see CME & CBOT Market Regulation Advisory Notice RA0910-3 (PDF). If you have any questions concerning block trades in CME or CBOT products, please contact the Market Regulation Department at 312.341.7970.