CME Group, operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, has suffered a setback in its ability to maintain a virtual monopoly in trading of US futures contracts after regulators rebuffed its attempts to quash a challenge from a Wall Street-backed competitor. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the US futures markets watchdog. on Monday rejected the CMEâs claim that a futures contract offered by ELX, a smaller rival, was illegal. It also said it had asked its staff to start âa thorough analysisâ of antitrust issues raised by both exchangesâ claims. The developments will be seen as signalling the start of a shift in the antitrust stance of US markets regulators to the dominance by Chicago of US Treasury bond futures contracts, among the most widely used exchange-traded derivatives. CME is expected to defend its business model vigorously against any attempt to open it up further to competition. The developments are the latest in a year-long tussle between the CFTC, CME Group and ELX, an upstart futures exchange launched last year and backed by banks including Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, as well as Getco and Peak6, two large Chicago-based market-making firms. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8ebcda72-a955-11df-a6f2-00144feabdc0.html No surprise here. CME exchange fees = outrage. I want some volume discount !!!!!