There are no holds barred in the competition between exchanges. As people arrived to hear a Hans Tietmeyer lecture in the City of London organized by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, they were greeted outside the venue by young ladies handing out leaflets spouting the benefits of trading FX with Eurex US. It all seemed harmless enough.
CME officials inside appeared nonplussed. “It can keep its 200 contracts a day volume – it really doesn’t affect us,” one was heard to say. After a polite couple of words, the young ladies disappeared.