By Karl Plume and Michael Hirtzer
CHICAGO, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Dozens of angry CME Group members abruptly left a meeting with CME Group Inc on Friday, saying executives were dismissive and largely failed to answer questions about the exchange's plans to close most open-outcry futures markets.
It was the first of two members-only sessions in Chicago and New York to address this week's announcement by CME Group that most open-outcry futures markets will be closed by July 2 due to dwindling trading volumes.
No media were allowed into the session, held in a hotel ballroom near CME's Chicago headquarters. At least 100 members attended and dozens talked with Reuters after leaving the meeting.
Many said they felt slighted by the sudden decision to shut down the iconic "pits" and the tone with which executives, including Chairman Terry Duffy and CEO Phupinder Gill, addressed queries about the declining value of their seats.
"They talked down to every person in that room, like underlings. And we're customers and members," said one, who asked not to be named, saying he feared reprisal.
CME declined to comment on the content of the meeting. "We'll continue to communicate with the entire member community throughout the transition," said a spokesman.
Members buy or lease "seats" at the exchange for huge sums which give them the right to trade. The last full membership sold for $290,000 on Thursday, down from a record of $775,000 in 1997.
Uniformed police stood outside the hotel and several attendees told Reuters they viewed their presence as a further attempt by the exchange to constrain the meeting. A "rules of conduct" letter was sent to members, including warnings against "derogatory personal references."
Duffy told the meeting 60 CME jobs would be lost, according to several members. Members said hundreds more jobs at trading firms would go.
Members also asked about compensation plans, but executives said the meeting was not to discuss buybacks of membership seats, according to the attendees.
The value of seats should only decline by about 1 percent when pits ultimately close because they account for less than 1 percent of exchange trading volumes, executives said, according to attendees, who have seen seat values fall sharply this week.
One member said his seat's value slid to $57,000 this week, from more than $80,000 last month.
Last year, veteran traders from the grain pits dropped a lawsuit against CME that was seen by many as a last stand from the old-style open-outcry players to keep the floor open in the face of competition from electronic screens.