CME rankles market data users with licensing changes

Members of IPUG, a UK-based industry group for users of market data services, are considering legal action following changes made by CME Group to its licensing policy and fees in 2025, according to internal documents seen by WatersTechnology.

Last year, CME terminated its end-of-day (EOD) data licenses for its exchanges—CME, CBOT, Nymex, Comex, and GME—and began offering end-of-day data under delayed data licenses. End-of-day data, or settlement data, provides an aggregated market view after the close of each trading day and has historically been provided for free by major exchanges. Delayed data, on the other hand, delivers live market information on a lag throughout the trading day and usually costs less than real-time data.

In addition to terminating its EOD licenses, CME also consolidated its non-display licenses from multiple types to one where fees will be based on the number of applications reported on an as-needed basis.

The reclassification of EOD data triggers new fees for firms accessing CME market data through all suppliers, including the main redistribution services, Bloomberg Data License (Bulk and Per Security) and LSEG DataScope (DS Select, DS Plus, and Tick History).

If [CME] is going to start charging for their end-of-day prices, that means the whole industry is going to start tracking and controlling it. The burden of doing that doesn’t create any value for the industry

Fintech executive who licenses CME data

CME notified direct licensees of both changes in September 2024, while Bloomberg notified customers in May 2025. However, the first new or increased fees were first seen by some IPUG members this past December. The fees are being back-billed to June 2025, despite a lack of data access controls, IPUG says.

IPUG has affiliates throughout Europe and Asia. Its members include financial institutions of any size that utilize market data services, and the operation of the group is managed by the voluntary efforts of the executive committee staffed by veteran bankers and buy-siders.

In a statement to WatersTechnology, IPUG’s executive team said: “IPUG is calling on CME to halt its delayed datafeed charges, which we believe are unjustified, technically flawed, and should not be applied to firms already paying for real-time data access.” 

As of January 2026, CME’s market data fee list says the real-time data license includes access to delayed and historical data. However, IPUG execs say this is only the case for direct CME licensees. Members receiving real-time CME data from Bloomberg but not from LSEG, or vice versa, are subject to the new delayed data fees.

In a data notification to DataScope users, LSEG told clients that accessing CME Group data via any EOD datafeed service will be subject to applicable delayed datafeed license fees and require direct licensing with CME for non-display, distribution, and creation of derived works. CME defines delayed data as intraday values made available more than 10 minutes but less than eight hours after publication. Historical data applies to data taken by users more than eight hours after publication.

“As a result of this change, there will be a corresponding adjustment in the delivery time for End of Day Pricing, End of Day Maintenance, and Correction files for CME Group of exchanges and Gulf Mercantile Exchange (DMX) File Codes, will be delayed 8 hours,” the notification reads.

The head of market data compliance at a global systemically important bank (G-Sib) says they understand the notification to mean that EOD data is free after eight hours, but not before.

“Before [the change], you had the end-of-day price when it was published. Now that’s not true. It will be considered delayed until the next day,” they say.

Per the January 2026 fee schedule, the delayed data fee is $304 per month. For example, a bank licensed for Bloomberg Data License Bulk and Per Security, LSEG DS Select, DS Plus, and Tick History, for each of CME’s five exchange products, and receiving data in three datacenters, will pay $273,600 in fees per year.

IPUG has raised multiple concerns, including the retroactive fees, to CME. In November 2025, IPUG’s chair, Caroline Poisson, emailed CME’s Ross Stuart, head of market data policy, stating that there was insufficient transparency into the datafeed counting methodology and that account-based counting was flawed. She advocated for a metric that measured and charged for actual usage instead. 

In the email, Poisson, who also heads market data procurement on behalf of a large investment bank, wrote that members also objected to CME’s decision to begin charging for freely available EOD data, which “raises questions about fairness and market practice.”

In an email back to Poisson, Stuart said CME’s counting approach is consistent with long-established practices, and that the exchange’s unit of count, common across all CME data counting, is based on the ability to access the data, rather than usage of data itself.

“The receipt of a delayed data feed of CME data attracts fees. Settlement data is highly valued for certain business activities, and there are many different business activities powered by either real-time or delayed data feeds respectively,” Stuart’s email said. “There are no concerns about fairness or market practice.”

Poisson tells WatersTechnology that IPUG members are seeking to raise concerns with regulatory authorities to prevent other exchanges from following suit. Asked whether IPUG would consider legal action, she says “it’s something we’re looking at”.

A spokesperson for CME Group declined to comment.

A New York-based fintech executive who licenses CME data says the gripe is less about cost and more about monitoring and control. Because EOD data has traditionally been license-free, firms do not typically track its use, despite its importance for functions such as updating books of record and accounting.

“If [CME] is going to start charging for their end-of-day prices, that means the whole industry is going to start tracking and controlling it. The burden of doing that doesn’t create any value for the industry,” they say. “The hidden cost is significant.”