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CME
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常规季度股息（Regular Quarterly Dividend）
分发节奏： 每年派发 4 次，分别在每年的 3月、6月、9月和12月 的下旬支付。
2026 年 2 月，CME 宣布将常规季度股息从 2025 年的每股 1.25 美元提升至每股 1.30 美元（年化固定股息为 5.20 美元/股）。
年度特派变动股息（Annual Variable Dividend）
分发原则：CME 的商业模式不需要大量的资本开支，因此管理层制定了一条铁律：除了维持日常运营和留存必要的监管资本外，每年赚到的超额自由现金流，几乎 100% 以“特派特别股息”的形式全部发还给股东。
从 2026 年起，年度变动股息的宣告与支付时间正式进行了前移和对齐：每年底不再单独宣告变动股息，而是推迟到次年 2 月份左右，与第一季度的常规股息一同宣告，并在 3 月下旬合并支付。
Articles
- 2013-05-11 The futures of capitalism
In contrast, the Chicago Merc’s business was tied to products, not customers. At first, it was eggs and butter, then cattle and pork bellies. The Chicago Board of Trade across town, once the more successful exchange, dominated trades in wheat and corn. The two did not really compete because product-oriented exchanges in particular benefit from strong “network effects”. These mean that more members are better: the more trades exchanges handle, the more liquidity they can provide and the more activity they attract.
When the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates fell apart in 1972, CME was quick to offer currency futures. Contracts tied to the London Interbank OfferedRate (LIBOR) and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index followed.
Between 1972 and 1982 futures, which once locked in prices only of physical commodities, were increasingly used for financial products. These types of futures have since experienced staggering growth and today makes up more than 80% of the business.
Other American exchanges, such as the once larger Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and the NYMEX, which then dominated energy trading, were slower to change. They were taken over by CME.
Leading the pack, the CME was able to benefit from powerful network effects, just as it did in its old business of handling trades in cattle and pork bellies. These effects are even stronger in the case of futures tied to copyrighted indices such as the S&P 500 and because of “proprietary clearing”, meaning contracts initiated on one futures market cannot be transferred to another—much as apps written for the iPhone only run on Apple’s devices. In contrast, options and equities can be traded on any exchange. This explains why the NYSE’s share-trading franchise has many rivals and lost much of its value.
Ordinarily, a big market share supported by strong network effects—which help deter competitors—would attract the wrath of trustbusters. But CME has been left alone so far. In fact, it may now benefit from new regulation, passed in reaction to the financial crisis. Clauses in the Dodd-Frank act require more products to be cleared on exchanges, which will push business CME’s way.
CME does face long-term competition: others may innovate around it. But, as in the case of Apple, the CME’s main problem is to develop new markets.