For Immediate Release                                                               

CBOT Board Calls Special Meeting of Members to Approve Changes to Rules for
Electronic Trading Of Agricultural Products

Chicago, IL, January 24, 2006 – The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), one of the world’s leading derivatives exchanges, announced today that its Board of Directors has requested a special meeting of members to approve changes to the CBOT’s rules to eliminate the member approval requirement for electronic trading of agricultural products during the day. 

Currently, the CBOT’s rules require approval of exchange members before agricultural products may be listed on the CBOT’s electronic trading platform during the trading day.  The changes approved by the Board today would allow the CBOT’s Board of Directors to determine the best time and platform for trading CBOT agricultural products. 

The changes to the rules, as well as certain related changes to the CBOT’s charter, must be approved by the members of the CBOT.  The Board has called a special meeting for this purpose to be held on March 8, 2006, and has established February 1, 2006 as the record date for members entitled to notice of and to vote at the special meeting.  Approval of these changes requires the affirmative vote of the holders a majority of the votes cast at the special meeting by the Series B-1 (Full) members, who are entitled to one vote per B-1 membership, and the Series B-2 (Associate) members, who are entitled to one-sixth of one vote per B-2 membership, voting together as a single class.

Contact: Media:
Maria C. Gemskie
312.435.3620
news@cbot.com

Investors:
Tami Kamarauskas
312-789-8532
InvestorRelations@cbot.com

About the CBOT

As one of the leading global derivative exchanges, the Chicago Board of Trade provides a diverse mix of financial, equity, and commodity futures and options-on-futures products. Building on its 157-year history, the CBOT continues to advance into the future using the strength of deep liquidity, market integrity and member-trader expertise. Using superior trading technology in both electronic and open-auction trading platforms, the CBOT provides premier customer service to risk managers and investors worldwide. For more information visit our web site at www.cbot.com.