CBOE Holdings and S&P Dow Jones Indices have finalised an amendment to their license agreement that extends Chicago Board Options Exchange's (CBOE) exclusive rights to list security options contracts based on certain indices calculated and published by S&P Dow Jones Indices through 2032, and non-exclusive rights through 2033.

Pursuant to the amendment, CBOE will continue to have the rights to offer trading in the exchange's flagship S&P 500 index options contract (SPX) – the most-active US index option – which in 2012 averaged nearly 700,000 contracts traded daily.

"This year marks 30 years since CBOE introduced the world’s first index options contract and shortly thereafter partnered with S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch trading in S&P 500 index options. For the first time, investors could use index options to gain exposure to the broader stock market with a single transaction – a groundbreaking concept that investors now take for granted,” says William J Brodsky (pictured), CBOE Holdings chairman and chief executive. "Our partnership with S&P Dow Jones Indices has deepened over the years, with new business opportunities we never dreamed of back in 1983, including creating new products, benchmarks, and strategy indexes. Thirty years after we completed our first agreement, we continue to enjoy a strong, mutually beneficial relationship.”

“The launch of S&P 500 index options 30 years ago, along with other index derivatives, marked a dramatic change in how investors could diversify their holdings and trade the large-cap segment of the US stock market,” says Alexander Matturri, chief executive of S&P Dow Jones Indices. “We are excited to extend our licensing agreement with our long-time exchange partner, CBOE, to list options on our growing family of leading stock market indices. Our partnership with CBOE over the last three decades has changed how investors measure and view the financial markets.”