The U.S. House of Representatives passed the financial reform compromise bill today, with the Senate expected to do the same within the next couple weeks and President Obama's signature to follow shortly thereafter.
Among the many measures in the bill is one that will write into law requirements for traditional clearing of OTC commodity derivatives.
Clearly, the two exchanges leading the race to claim that business are CME Group and the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE). The two exchanges have already made efforts to move into the financial OTC derivatives markets, although CME Group has the clear lead in traditional commodity futures business.
In the short term, however, investors aren't impressed. Stock in both companies followed the broader market lower today, with CME Group closing off $6.36 to $281.55 per share and ICE losing $0.85 to $113.03 per share.