The Chicago Board of Trade is to press ahead with the launch of a new credit derivative contract within the next 12 months, with or without the iTraxx index consortium with which it has been holding talks.

Robert Ray, the Chicago Board of Trade's head of business development said the exchange was engaged in discussions with the iTraxx shareholder banks over licensing the indices, but that it was fully prepared to launch its own credit derivative contract if the talks did not prove fruitful.