On Dec. 6, 2002, Class A shares of the CME parent company, Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc., began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). CME became the first U.S. financial exchange to become publicly listed. The ticker symbol is  CME.

The road to this initial public offering began in June 2000, when Exchange members voted overwhelmingly to transform the then not-for-profit, membership-owned organization into a for-profit, shareholder-owned corporation. On Nov. 13, 2000, CME became the first U.S. financial exchange to demutualize into a shareholder-owned corporation.

On Dec. 3, 2001, CME became a wholly owned subsidiary of CME Holdings. Currently, CME is the primary subsidiary of the parent company. The holding company structure is designed to provide CME with strategic and business flexibility, among other things.

As of November 2003, CME Holdings had about 32.9  million shares of Class A common stock and 3,138 shares of Class B common stock outstanding.  Class A stock represents equity rights in the holding company. There are four classes of Class B common stock, which consist of equity rights in the holding company and are associated with trading rights at CME. Holders of Class B common stock also have the right to elect a certain number of directors to the Board of Directors.

The term "member" is used to denote someone who satisfies certain requirements to trade at CME. Members either own Class B shares or lease certain rights to trade at CME from a Class B shareholder. Class B shares and the associated trading rights are bought, sold and leased through the company's Shareholder Relations and Membership Services Department. Class B shares can be transferred only in connection with the sale of the associated trading rights.

CME Class B shares are associated with trading rights as follows: