CME Group, BM&FBOVESPA, and S&P Indices Announce Agreement for Cross-Listing of Global Benchmark Equity Index, Commodity and Energy Futures

CHICAGO, NEW YORK AND SAO PAULO, March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and BM&FBOVESPA (BVMF), the largest equity and futures exchange in Latin America, today announced a cross-listing and cross-licensing agreement involving S&P 500 Index and Bovespa Index (IBOVESPA) futures.  BVMF will also license CME Group's Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Mini-sized Soybean and NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures settlement prices.  The agreement also provides the companies the opportunity to license additional products in the future.

Under the cross-listing arrangements, the IBOVESPA, the main indicator of the Brazilian stock market's average performance, will be listed on Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and cleared through CME Clearing as U.S. dollar denominated Ibovespa futures.  BVMF will launch U.S. dollar denominated S&P 500 Index futures to be settled in Brazilian real, the CBOT listed Mini-sized Soybean futures and the NYMEX listed Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures.  The S&P 500 is being made available to BVMF via sublicense from CME Group and S&P Indices, one of the world's leading index providers, under CME Group's exclusive global license.

BVMF expects to launch the Mini-sized Soybean futures in the 2nd quarter of 2012, and the WTI futures in the 3rd quarter of 2012.  Each exchange expects to launch its respective equity index futures in the second half of 2012.

"We continue to build on our relationship with BM&FBOVESPA, and are working together closely to provide more ways to manage risk for our global customers through technology and order routing," said Bryan Durkin, CME Group Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director, Products & Services.  "These new cross-listing arrangements provide both CME Group's and BM&FBOVESPA's customers access to some of the key, globally-relevant benchmark products.  This initiative will allow our clients to improve their ability to better manage market and credit risk exposure across various asset classes.  As our relationship expands, we will continue to explore joint technology and product opportunities with BM&FBOVESPA to bring more innovative and new trading solutions to the global marketplace."

"Our long standing strategic partnership with CME Group continues to bring new benefits to both companies' customers.  By providing order routing, joint trading technology development and now the cross-listing initiative, we reinforce our commitment to providing superior products and trading opportunities to our clients in Brazil and also offer the main Brazilian equity benchmark index in the U.S.," said Marcelo Maziero, BM&FBOVESPA Chief Product and Customer Officer.  "The cross-listing arrangement will provide much easier local access to international flagship products with little or no extra technology investment, catering for better risk management with reduced costs."

"S&P Indices and the CME Group have an extensive, successful history of opening up news areas of investment to the world's financial markets," says Alexander Matturri, Executive Managing Director at S&P Indices.  "Via our sublicensing agreement with BM&FBOVESPA and the CME Group, Brazilian investors will now be able to further diversify and strengthen their portfolio by taking a position in the U.S. equity markets as defined by the S&P 500."

For more information regarding this update, please visit our international partnership page: http://www.cmegroup.com/international/partnership-resources/bmfbovespa-resources.html

ABOUT CME Group

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk.  CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and real estate.  CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex® electronic trading platform and its trading facilities in New York and Chicago.  CME Group also operates CME Clearing, one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, which offers clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded contracts, as well as for over-the-counter derivatives transactions through CME ClearPort®. These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk in both listed and over-the-counter derivatives markets.

ABOUT BM&FBOVESPA

BM&FBOVESPA is the world's third largest exchange by market value.  The largest equity and futures exchange in Latin America, BM&FBOVESPA develops and manages systems for the trading and settlement of securities and derivatives products based on interest rates, foreign exchange, equity and inflation indices, financial indicators, agricultural and energy commodities and more.  With its fully integrated business model BM&FBOVESPA offers not only a state-of-the-art trading environment, but also registration, clearing, settlement, risk management, central counterparty and depository services.  For more information about BVMF, please visit: http://www.bmfbovespa.com.br

ABOUT S&P INDICES

S&P Indices, a leading brand of the McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Over $1.45 trillion is directly indexed to our indices, which includes the S&P 500, the world's most followed stock market index, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, the S&P GSCI, the industry's most closely watched commodities index, and the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index, the premier investable index for U.S. municipal bonds. For more information, please visit: www.standardandpoors.com/indices

It is not possible to invest directly in an index. S&P Indices does not sponsor, endorse, sell, or promote any S&P index-based investment product. This document does not constitute an offer of services in jurisdictions where S&P Indices or its affiliates do not have the necessary licenses. S&P Indices receives compensation in connection with licensing its indices to third parties.

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc.  The Globe Logo, CME, Globex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.

IBOVESPA is a trademark of BM&FBOVESPA, registered before the National Institute of Industrial Property in Brazil.

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SOURCE CME Group