Archived CBOE, CBSX, & CFE Press Releases

CBOE Board of Directors names William J. Brodsky next Chairman and CEO

CHICAGO, Dec.4, 1996 -- The Board of Directors of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) today elected William J. Brodsky as the exchange's next Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Brodsky, 52, will assume office sometime after the first of the year. CBOE's Succession Committee will work with Brodsky and CBOE's current Chairman and CEO Alger B. "Duke" Chapman on an orderly transition.

Brodsky has served as President and CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) for 11 years, since 1985. In that role, he is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the CME, which has more than 2,700 memberships, nearly 90 member firms, and approximately 1,000 employees. He joined the CME in 1982 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

Prior to joining the CME, Brodsky was with the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) from 1974 to 1982, and held the title of Executive Vice President of Operations from 1979 to 1982. There, Brodsky played a key role in developing that exchange's options program. From 1968 to 1974, he was an attorney with the New York investment banking and securities brokerage firm of Model, Roland and Company. He is a member of the bar in New York and Illinois, and received an A.B. degree and a J.D. degree from Syracuse University and the Syracuse University College of Law.

"Bill Brodsky has proven his leadership abilities by helping to position the CME as an exchange which is synonymous with innovation," said CBOE Chairman and CEO Duke Chapman. "He has been instrumental in helping the CME and its various partners educate many publics on the utility of futures and futures options -- both domestically and internationally. In doing so, he has helped to provide a structure for public confidence in and, thereby, investor interest in exchange-traded derivative instruments. Bill Brodsky has also been an outspoken leader who has championed the positive aspects of self regulatory markets in the United States and globally. He has tirelessly contributed invaluable operational and legal skill to the demands of this industry, in commitment to helping developing marketplaces in Europe, the Far East, and elsewhere in the world. Having had the privilege of working with Bill on many occasions over the years, I know that the future of the CBOE will be in very capable hands."

At the CME, Brodsky was instrumental in the development of stock index derivatives. He has worked closely with the CBOE on a number of initiatives, including cross margining, the establishment of circuit breakers following the 1987 market break, and the development of a series of equity derivatives including those based on the Standard and Poors 500reg; Index, the Nasdaq 100 Indexreg;, the IPC, the Samp;P 500/BARRA Growth and Value Indexes and the Russell 2000reg; Index.

A native of New York, Brodsky also is a member of the Board of Trustees at Syracuse University and at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He serves on the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management Advisory Council, the Board of Visitors, Northwestern School of Law, the Board of the Northwestern Memorial (Hospital) Corporation and on the governing Board of the Chicago Symphony.

Other affiliations include a Board membership on the National Futures Association, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, the Midwest Regional Advisory Board of the Institute of International Education, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Council on Economic Education. He is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's International Capital Markets Advisory Committee, the Commercial Club of Chicago and the Economics Club of Chicago, and serves on the Boards of the Swiss Commodities, Futures and Options Association and the International Futures and Commodities Institute. He served as a Board member of The Options Clearing Corporation from 1975 to 1982.

Brodsky and his family reside in Highland Park, Illinois.

Chapman began as CBOE Chairman and CEO in October 1986. Under his tenure, the CBOE has matured into a world-class institution and a model for other countries developing securities options markets. CBOE, the third largest securities market in the U.S., trades an underlying daily notional value of $25 billion.

The pioneer of listed options and the world's largest options market, the CBOE during the past decade has increased the number of listed equity options to 850 from 173, the number of stock index option products to 35 from two, and introduced other innovative products such as LEAPSreg; (Long-term Equity AnticiPation Securitiesreg;) and FLEXreg; (FLexible EXchange) Options, emulated at exchanges around the globe. Also in the last two years, he oversaw CBOE's entry into structured products.

Chapman spearheaded a far-reaching educational effort to spread the message about the utility of options, sought to reduce barriers to options usage and saw volume at the exchange reach new heights.

Chapman has been instrumental in the creation of The Options Industry Council (OIC), a cooperative effort by the American, New York, Pacific and Philadelphia stock exchanges, CBOE and The Options Clearing Corporation, the guarantor of all securities options trades. The OIC is continuing to conduct a multi-year program to educate investors about equity options that has attracted interest from more than 150,000 investors.

He also has been instrumental in attracting institutional investors by removing regulatory barriers, attaining position limit relief for institutions and pioneering new products. Today, institutional market users comprise almost 50 percent of CBOE's customer base, up from 10 percent in the mid-1980s.

Chapman oversaw the institution of CBOE's Technical Assistance Program, providing information and education to staff members of securities markets and regulators in more than a dozen countries, including Chile, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Slovakia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela.

Before joining CBOE, Chapman was vice chairman of American Express Bank Ltd. in London, and he has served in a number of key executive appointments with securities firms, as well as positions with the New York Stock Exchange and the SEC.

In addition to being chairman of CBOE, Chapman serves on the Board of Directors of the Cincinnati Stock Exchange, H.D.O. Corporation, Smith Barney Funds, Arlington Capital Management, Ltd., Johnson International Inc. and Current Assets LPC.

Chapman is also past president of the International Options Markets Association (IOMA); and chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Derivatives of the International Federation of Stock Exchanges (FIBV). He also serves on the boards of the Swiss Commodities, Futures and Options Association and the International Futures and Commodities Institute.

CBOE, regulated by the SEC, is the pioneer of listed options and the world's largest options marketplace.

12/4/96