The Chicago Board and Options Exchange, the US options market, and rival Chicago Board of Trade are reportedly in talks to settle their long-running legal dispute, a step which would allow CBOE to move ahead with its plan to demutualise and float.

The CBOE and the CBOT are in talks, according to a report on Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter, to settle their protracted courtroom battle over the rights CBOT members have to CBOE membership dating back to the 1970s when the CBOT helped set up the options market.