CME and S&P Announce New E-mini Small Cap Stock Index Futures Contracts
June 19 2007 - 11:22AM
PR Newswire (US)
CHICAGO, June 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chicago Mercantile
Exchange (CME), the world's largest and most diverse financial
exchange and largest marketplace for U.S. equity index derivatives
trading, and Standard & Poor's Corporation, a Division of the
McGraw Hill Companies, today announced that they have expanded
their successful 25-year partnership to include the listing of new
E-mini Small Cap Stock Index Futures Contracts based on the
successful family of S&P U.S. equity indices, addressing the
needs of institutional asset managers for hedging and managing
portfolios of small cap companies. The new derivatives products
will be offered exclusively on the CME Globex platform and will be
supported by dedicated CME market makers. In response to customer
demands and to ensure an orderly transfer of liquidity, CME intends
to list its Russell contracts through the September 2008 expiration
date. Following the expiration of CME's agreement with Russell, CME
and S&P will provide trading incentives and execution
facilities that will encourage market participants to transfer
their open interest in CME Russell 2000 stock index futures
contracts into the new CME/S&P E-mini Small Cap Stock Index
Futures Contracts. CME and S&P also announced today that they
plan to develop other new equity and fixed income products designed
to address the full spectrum of institutional asset management
trading needs. "CME and S&P have enjoyed the most successful
and long-term stock index licensing relationship in the business
and have the strongest brand recognition, product quality and
liquidity in today's marketplace for equity derivatives, said Terry
Duffy, CME Executive Chairman. "Though Russell has decided to move
to another exchange, we look forward to enhancing our relationship
with S&P and toward the successful continuation of our small
cap business." "We value our 25-year relationship with CME," said
Robert Shakotko, Managing Director, Index Services, Standard &
Poor's. "Our E-mini S&P 500 futures contract traded at CME has
grown 338 percent in the last five years, from roughly $9 billion
in average daily dollar volume in 2002 to over $90 billion in 2007.
As the market leader in equity indices for the U.S. equity market
with the S&P 500(R), S&P Mid-Cap 400(R) and S&P
Small-Cap 600(R) family of products, we look forward to further
strengthening our partnership with CME as we jointly develop new
derivatives products that will further meet the trading and risk
management needs of market users worldwide." "CME has been the
market leader and innovator in stock index futures markets for more
than 25 years. We have developed the most sophisticated technology,
the broadest global distribution and institutional customer base
and the most efficient clearing environment for equity derivatives
transactions," said Craig Donohue, CME Chief Executive Officer.
"These advantages will benefit us tremendously as we vigorously
compete in this segment of the equity derivatives markets." About
CME 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:CMENASDAQ: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/.
About Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's, a division of
The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost
provider of financial market intelligence, including independent
credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and
data. With approximately 8,500 employees, including wholly owned
affiliates, located in 21 countries. Standard & Poor's is an
essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has
played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing
investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more
confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more
information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com/. Statements in
this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking
statements. These statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that
are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results
may differ materially from what is expressed or implied in any
forward-looking statements. More detailed information about factors
that may affect our performance may be found in our filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent
Annual Report on Form 10-K, which can be obtained at its Web site
at http://www.sec.gov/. We undertake no obligation to publicly
update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. CME Globex and SPCTR are
trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. E-mini is a service
mark of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. S&P, S&P 500 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/.
CME-G DATASOURCE: Chicago Mercantile Exchange CONTACT: Anita
Liskey, +1-312-466-4613, or Mary Haffenberg, +1-312-930-3435, both
of Chicago Mercantile Exchange; or David R. Guarino of S&P,
+1-212-438-1471, for Chicago Mercantile Exchange Web site:
http://www.cme.com/ http://www.standardandpoors.com/
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