7 Aug 2008
By Joshua Boak
The legendary former chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange sidestepped controversy by resigning this week from a position with a new futures market based in Asia, according to a source familiar with the situation.Leo Melamed accepted the chairmanship of the Singapore Mercantile Exchange's advisory committee last month without informing fellow directors at the CME Group, the parent company of the Chicago Merc. But he did receive approval to accept the position from the CME Group's general counsel, the source said.
Some in the Chicago trading community worried that the advisory post represented a conflict of interest, since the CME Group is not among the stakeholders in the Singapore Mercantile Exchange.
"It flies in the face of what had been the CME Group's strategy to expand their offerings and links into Asia," said John Lothian, a trader who publishes a daily industry newsletter. "Leo's grand plan has been to go into Asia. Evidently, he didn't include the CME Group in this deal."
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