Deutsche Börse Mulls US Futures Market

German stock market operator Deutsche Börse is considering the future of its Chicago-based futures market, Eurex US, and a pull-out is a possible option, the daily Die Welt reported Friday. Eurex's joint owners, Deutsche Börse and the Zurich stock exchange market SWX, are losing patience with US unit, which has consistently failed to meet expectations since it was launched in February 2004, the newspaper said, quoting sources close to Eurex. "Eurex chief Rudolf Ferscha must come up with a clear concept at the next supervisory board meeting in August about where things are going to go in the US," one source was quoted as saying. Earlier this week, Deutsche Börse's interim chief Mathias Llubek had ruled out a straightforward withdrawal from the US futures market, but conceded that "a number of different options" were being looked at to reposition the group's activities in the US. Die Welt reported Friday that among the different options was one where the German group would have only a represenative office in Chicago, while futures trading would actually be done in Frankfurt.