CME Group and RIM Intelligence to Cooperate on Developing Energy Risk Management Products for Japan

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Feb 27, 2012, 07:00 ET

TOKYO, Feb. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and RIM Intelligence, Japan's foremost provider of energy price and information services, today announced they have signed an agreement to develop clearing services for over-the-counter (OTC) risk management products used by the Japanese energy industry. The products will be listed and subject to the rules of NYMEX and cleared through CME ClearPort.

"As we grow our energy business across the globe, partnerships with market-leading pricing organizations like RIM Intelligence are central to CME Group's strategy of developing regional products and services for customers," said Gary Morsches, Managing Director Energy Products at CME Group. "RIM's prices are the trusted yardstick in the Japanese energy market and we look forward to delivering clearing services which will substantially mitigate counterparty risk for users of RIM-based products."

"Our energy prices are used as a benchmark both within Japan and in international markets. We are delighted to be the first Japanese company to work with CME Group in an energy price-related field. Through this co-operation, we hope to see active participation by market players and to contribute to the overall vibrancy and liquidity of over-the-counter trades in the energy market," said Hisako Mori, President of RIM Intelligence.

CME Group's global energy risk management tools include the crude oil benchmark WTI and Brent contracts, as well as futures and options on asset classes including natural gas, electricity, heating oil and ethanol. Serving the global OTC market, CME ClearPort is a comprehensive set of flexible clearing services, offering a range of cleared swaps for customers wishing to manage price risk in energy and other commodity sectors.

Founded in 1984, RIM Intelligence is Japan's most established energy pricing vendor and has distinguished itself as the leading supplier of quality information on energy markets not only within Japan but also in the international arena, with an emphasis on accuracy and timeliness. RIM provides price assessments for various energy markets including crude oil, petroleum products, LNG, LPG and petrochemicals to clients throughout the world.

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.

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. CBOT and the Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are registered 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 (NASDAQ: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.

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SOURCE CME Group