CME's James Krause Honored as 2005 Premier 100 IT Leader by IDG's Computerworld

CHICAGO, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- CME, the largest U.S. futures exchange, today announced that James Krause, managing director and chief information officer, has been recognized by IDG's Computerworld, the "Voice of IT Management," as one of the business world's Premier 100 IT Leaders. The award honors executives who show exemplary technology leadership in resolving pressing business problems. Honorees, including Krause, were named and profiled in the January 3 issue of Computerworld and will be honored again at Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference, occurring March 6-8, 2005, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Krause was selected from nearly 600 nominees, who were measured against Computerworld's IT Leadership Index, a set of characteristics that describes executives who guide the effective use of IT in their organizations, and evaluated by the editors and by an external panel of outside judges. Other honorees include leading IT executives from corporations such as State Street Corp., UPS, Hewlett-Packard, Cardinal Health, MasterCard International LLC, Marriott International, and AFLAC.

"Our Premier 100 list honors those who have kept fighting despite the many obstacles that technology has thrown at them in the past year," said Don Tennant, editor in chief of Computerworld. "This group of men and women have proven themselves through all facets of business, including some of the toughest challenges, such as cultural hurdles, language barriers, corporate politics, internal/external communication, and maintaining fresh, creative ideas. They think out of the box and do not cower away from difficult projects; rather, they embrace the struggle while foreseeing the opportunities it can bring in the future."

During his 20-year tenure with CME, Krause has been instrumental in building the exchange's technology infrastructure and electronic trading platform known as CME Globex^®. Today, electronic trading at CME represents more than 70 percent of all trading volume and operates nearly 24 hours every trading day. Among the many projects in 2004, Krause played a principal role in launching CME's transaction processing agreement with the Chicago Board of Trade, introduction of six European telecommunication hubs and integration of implied pricing functionality for CME Eurodollars, the world's largest and most liquid futures contract.

"Jim and his entire team have done an extraordinary job of helping CME more effectively leverage our technology resources, which has clearly helped CME make a name for itself as a leading applied-technology company in Chicago and around the world," said CME Chief Executive Officer Craig Donohue. "With $1.7 trillion dollars in notional value transacted at CME in interest rate, stock index and foreign exchange futures and options contracts nearly 24 hours a day on our globally distributed CME Globex platform, technology is an integral part our business and supports, affects and enables our growth strategy."

The complete list of Premier 100 IT Leaders can be found in the January 3, 2005, issue of Computerworld and online at http://www.computerworld.com/p1002005 . The issue includes several feature articles summarizing the challenges IT Leaders expect to face in the coming year, including motivating staff, avoiding project pitfalls, shoring up network security and preparing for the rebound.

About CME

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. ( http://www.cme.com ) is the largest futures exchange in the United States. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on CME Globex^® electronic trading platform and on its trading floors. CME offers futures and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moved about $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments in 2004 and managed $44.1 billion in collateral deposits at Dec. 31, 2004, including $3.2 billion in deposits for non-CME products. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME), which is part of the Russell 1000^® Index.

About Computerworld

Computerworld, the "Voice of IT Management," is the most trusted source for the critical information needs of senior IT management. Computerworld's integrated offerings form the U.S.-based hub of the world's largest (58- edition) global IT media network through its weekly publication, Computerworld.com Web site, focused conference series and custom research. In the past five years alone, Computerworld has won more than 100 print and online awards for editorial and design excellence, surpassing its direct competition by an order of magnitude. Recognition includes the 2004 Magazine of the Year Award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors and a Jesse H. Neal Award for "Best News Coverage." In print since 1967, Computerworld is the source for information technology management, with a guaranteed rate base of 180,050, a total print audience of 1,138,000 (IntelliQuest CIMS 2004 Business Influencer Study) and an online audience of over 1 million unique monthly visitors (DoubleClick).

Computerworld is a business unit of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading technology media, research and events company. A privately held company, IDG publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers, including Bio-IT World, CIO, CSO, Computerworld, GamePro, InfoWorld, Network World and PC World. The company features the largest network of technology-specific Web sites, with more than 400 around the world. IDG is also a leading producer of more than 170 computer-related events worldwide, including LinuxWorld Conference & Expo^®, Macworld Conference & Expo^®, DEMO^® and IDC Directions. IDC provides global market research and advice through offices in 50 countries. Company information is available at http://www.idg.com .

Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME, the globe logo and Globex are registered trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Further information about CME and its products is available on the CME Web site at http://www.cme.com .

SOURCE Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.

CONTACT: Media, Anita S. Liskey, +1-312-466-4613, or Allan Schoenberg, +1-312-930-8189, news@cme.com , or Investors, John Peschier, +1-312-930-8491, all of CME

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Chicago Mercantile Exchange's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.