The CME Group’s proposed takeover of Nymex would lead to a slew of job losses from the boardroom to the trading floor, with up to half the trading pits at the energy exchange likely to be closed within two years.

While the CME will probably retain pits to trade options – one of the more complex areas of derivatives trading and hence more difficult to put on electronic platforms – the rest of the 136-year-old trading floor at the New York exchange could be closed within two years, according to those familiar with CME thinking.