By Alex MacDonald Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES ST. GALLEN, Switzerland -(Dow Jones)- In ten years there will be three major futures and options exchange groups around the world, each dominating one of three key geographic regions: North America, Europe, and Asia, an executive of U.S.-based CME Group Inc. (CME) said Friday. "It's going to be a world of partnerships rather than ownership," said Dennis Chookaszian, a board member of the Chicago-based company that owns a variety of different exchanges and trading platforms for trading futures and options. "There will be some consolidation but fundamentally partnerships will be created for the use of technology and listing products," he told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview at the St. Gallen Symposium. He said the partnerships will likely happen through equity stake investments in different platforms, as evidenced in CME's investment in Brazil's securities, commodities, and future exchange BM&F Bovespa. He noted that despite each company's global ambitions, it will be difficult to create a world wide exchange due to political and regulatory issues. With regard to the London Metal Exchange, he declined to comment whether the CME Group was interested in bidding on the world's largest metal exchange by volume. -By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)7776 200 924 alex.macdonald@dowjones.com
