CHICAGO, May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CME Group released the following statement on the confirmation of Gary Gensler as the new chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC): "We congratulate Mr. Gensler on his appointment to head the CFTC. Mr. Gensler's depth of experience and knowledge make him well qualified for the Chairmanship of the Commission. We look forward to working with Mr. Gensler to ensure that our U.S. futures and options markets remain at the forefront of our industry in terms of low transaction costs for market users, superior technology solutions, leading customer protection programs, and safety and soundness in the clearing and settlement of transactions. We also intend to work with Mr. Gensler to ensure that legislators and regulators understand the critical importance of hedging and risk-transfer markets to our global economy; the globally competitive nature of futures, options and derivative markets; and the risk that these important markets can be injured by the adoption of misguided regulations and tax policies. CME Group operates at the highest tier of regulation under the CFTC. Working with the CFTC as our regulator, CME Group markets have functioned extremely well during these difficult economic conditions. CME Group has never experienced a default in more than 110 years and no customer has ever lost money as a result of a clearing member default. Most importantly, CME Group ensures the performance of all contracts between buyers and sellers that trade on our exchanges." CME Group (http://www.cmegroup.com/) is the world's largest and most diverse derivatives exchange. Building on the heritage of CME, CBOT and NYMEX, CME Group serves the risk management needs of customers around the globe. As an international marketplace, CME Group brings buyers and sellers together on the CME Globex electronic trading platform and on trading floors in Chicago and New York. CME Clearing is designed to eliminate counterparty credit risk by acting as the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer. CME Clearing also offers financial safeguards to help mitigate systemic risk, providing the security and confidence market participants need to operate, invest and grow. CME Group offers the widest range of benchmark products available across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, and alternative investment products such as weather and real estate. CME Group is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol "CME." The Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME Group, Globex, E-mini and CME ClearPort are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago. NYMEX and New York Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Further information about CME Group and its products can be found at http://www.cmegroup.com/. CME-G DATASOURCE: CME Group CONTACT: Media, Allan Schoenberg, +1-312-930-8189, or Mary Haffenberg, +1-312-930-3435, or Michael Shore, +1-312-930-2363, , or Investors, John Peschier, +1-312-930-8491, all of CME Group Web Site: http://www.cme.com/

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