The Montreal Exchange Inc. has declared its intention to pay a special dividend to shareholders.

The MX reports that at a board meeting held yesterday it was decided that the exchange would pay a special dividend of $1.50 per share on its outstanding common shares. The payment will be made Feb. 7 to shareholders of record at the close of business the previous day.

The derivatives market has been enjoying strong trading volume this year. It set a new volume record on Nov. 22, with 319,987 contracts traded, worth $107 billion.