Cboe will be implementing new mandatory protocols for all trading floor personnel. The aim, Cboe explains, is to help protect the safety and welfare of persons on the trading floor given the circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At present, all individuals entering Cboe’s Chicago facility at 400 S. LaSalle Street undergo a temperature check and general health screening by qualified medical staff upon entry to the building.

Beginning the week of November 9, 2020, in addition to this current screening requirement, Cboe will require that each individual on the trading floor undergo a mid-day screening anytime between 11:30CT and 1:30CT each day. The screening will be similar to that conducted upon entry to the building, including a temperature check, general observation, and medical questions.

Each individual will be required to swipe their access badge through a card-reader to log their participation in the daily mid-day screening. Failure to comply with this daily mid-day screening will result in badge access being disabled for the following day.

Further, beginning the week of November 16, 2020, Cboe intends to contract with an independent health care provider who will conduct on-site swab COVID-19 testing for all trading floor personnel. An initial benchmark test will first be conducted.

Thereafter, tests will be conducted twice weekly, generally on Mondays and Thursdays. Persons testing positive will be restricted from accessing the facility pursuant to Cboe, CDC, and City of Chicago guidelines.

On March 16, the Cboe Options Exchange trading floor was temporarily closed and transitioned to all-electronic trading mode as a precautionary measure to reduce the risk of COVID-19. Cboe reopened the Cboe Options Exchange trading floor in Chicago on June 15, 2020, and successfully resumed hybrid trading – which includes open-outcry and electronic trading mechanisms.