Euronext, the pan-European exchange, is paying $7.5m (€7.2m) to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), half the cost of the US derivatives exchange's settlement with eSpeed, for the Wagner Patent litigation.

The CME and Chicago Board of Trade, the largest derivatives exchanges in the US, reached a settlement with eSpeed, a subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald, for $15m each in August 2002 to allow them to trade futures electronically. Howard Lutnick, president of eSpeed, inherited a lawsuit against the exchanges two years ago when he bought the Wagner Patent, which governs automated futures trading. Lutnick bought the patent in April 2001 for $1.75m (€1.78m) plus stock, amounting to $3m in total.