ICE Official: CME Tax Break Deal May Raise Costs For ICE

CHICAGO (Dow Jones)- An executive of IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) told Illinois lawmakers Friday that it might wind up paying more in state taxes under a bill aimed at reducing the tax burden for rival CME Group Inc. (CME).

Martin Hunter, vice president of tax and treasurer at ICE, testified before the Illinois House Revenue and Finance Committee, which is considering a plan that would drastically reduce taxes charged to derivatives exchanges for trades performed on their electronic platforms.

Without tax relief, CME and options exchange CBOE Holdings Inc. (CBOE) has warned it might move the bulk of its operations from Illinois, which has been its home for 163 years.

State lawmakers are considering a measure that would tax exchanges on 27.54% of electronic transactions, which account for the vast majority of all business done at CME and CBOE. Currently, taxes are paid on all electronic trades.

The 27.54% figure came from U.S. census data to approximate how much of the Chicago exchanges transactions are performed in Illinois.

At Friday's hearing, Hunter said Atlanta-based ICE earns a "significant allocation of our income" from Illinois, although he said he was "not comfortable" providing further information in a public forum.

ICE employs almost 100 people in Illinois, according to Hunter.

The ICE executive says the exchange industry is "very diverse," and it would be difficult to come up with "one size fits all" rules.

Hunter requested that exchanges have the option of being taxed by the current "market-based" method, which state lawmakers say is included in the Senate's version of the bill.

CME has no objection to the measure containing an opt-out clause, said the ICE official and committee members.

ICE and New York-headquartered NYSE Euronext (NYX), and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) joined forces to hire a lobbyist to represent their interests during the legislative process.

The Illinois House committee is scheduled to vote on the bill Nov. 28. If approved it would move to the full House and Senate the following day.

-By Howard Packowitz, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4132; [e-mail]