According to various news sources, ICE Futures U.S. proposed that individual members of the exchange pay a fee of $3,000 for the first half of 2012 to use the New York options-trading floor for contracts including sugar and coffee.
In a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, ICE stated that as electronic trading of exchange options contracts continues to increase in both absolute terms and as a share of total options volume, ICE anticipates a further decline in the number of brokers and locals on the trading floor.
ICE Futures U.S. is based in New York and is a leading global soft commodity futures and options exchange, with markets for sugar, cotton, coffee, cocoa and orange juice. Futures pits were shut in early 2008 and those contracts trade only electronically.
The exchange proposed rebates, linked to trading volume, for as much as the full access fee. The cost for the second half of 2012 will be determined at least 60 days before the start of the period, according to the letter.
