CME Receives Recognised Overseas Clearing House Status from UK Financial Services Authority
CHICAGO, June 7, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- CME, the world's largest and most diverse derivatives exchange, announced today that the United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority (FSA) has granted CME the status of a Recognised Overseas Clearing House (ROCH), which enables CME to provide global clearing services to market participants in the UK and serve a wider range of UK customers' risk management needs.
The ROCH status will take effect immediately and will enable CME to clear products that are not traded on centralized markets provided by CME in the United States. For example, CME will now be able to clear over-the-counter products regulated by the FSA, such as currency forwards, that may be or will soon be offered by FXMarketSpace(TM), CME's joint venture with Reuters. CME also will have the ability to market its other over-the-counter clearing services in the UK, including its CME Clearing360(TM) offering.
"We are pleased to be designated a Recognised Overseas Clearing House in the UK, further expanding our global clearing capabilities to OTC markets," said Kim Taylor, Managing Director and President, CME Clearing. "Today's announcement is a great example of how end users of financial markets can benefit when regulators such as the FSA and CFTC create a regulatory environment where principles-based regulation and information sharing arrangements are recognised. With our Clearing360 initiative, FXMarketSpace joint venture and Swapstream subsidiary, CME will continue to extend the benefits of central counterparty clearing to market participants trading over-the-counter."
CME received the status of a Recognised Overseas Investment Exchange in 1989.
CME Clearing is the largest derivatives clearing organization in the world. With a financial safeguards package of over $4 billion and industry leading risk management practices, CME ensures the safety and soundness of the markets it clears and helps differentiate the exchange from its competitors. With CME Clearing serving as the counterparty to every trade matched or submitted in the clearing process, counterparty risk is virtually eliminated. In 2006, CME cleared 2.1 billion trades.
CME Clearing360 provides clearing services for designated OTC products, allowing hedge funds, proprietary trading firms and global and regional banks to substitute OTC trades for cleared only futures positions, providing clients access to the same performance guarantees that have previously only been available with exchange-traded products.
CME (http://www.cme.com) is the world's largest and most diverse derivatives exchange. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on the CME Globex(R) electronic trading platform and on its trading floors. CME offers futures and options on futures in these product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and alternative investment products such as weather, real estate and economic derivatives. CME is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME; Nasdaq: CME), which is part of the Russell 1000(R) Index and the S&P 500(R) Index.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME, the globe logo, CME Globex and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CLEARING 21 is a registered trademark of CME and New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. S&P, S&P 500, NASDAQ-100, Nikkei 225, Russell 1000, Russell 2000, TRAKRS, Total Return Asset Contracts and other trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks that are not proprietary to Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. are the property of their respective owners, and are used herein under license. Further information about CME and its products is available on the CME Web site at http://www.cme.com.
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SOURCE Chicago Mercantile Exchange
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