CME Group and TAIFEX Sign Letter of Intent for Greater Collaboration

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Mar 10, 2015, 03:00 ET

BOCA RATON, Fla. and TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) today signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) regarding the potential listing on TAIFEX of U.S. equity index-based contracts, and the exploration of cross-border collaboration opportunities and models, and forge greater collaboration between both exchanges.

"We are seeing strong growth in Asia, most recently with 2014 fourth quarter volumes up 51 percent compared to the previous year," said CME Group Executive Chairman and President, Terry Duffy. "This letter of intent comes at an important time as we continue to look for growth in that region. We look forward to working closely with TAIFEX."

"We are pleased to sign this LOI with TAIFEX," said Phupinder Gill, CME Group Chief Executive Officer. "Through this collaboration, we hope to explore opportunities to better serve the Taiwanese financial markets, and further extend CME Group's reach into north Asia. Enabling Taiwan-listed U.S. equities index contracts can serve as an important step in the development of the Taiwanese markets."

"In response to a fast changing global financial landscape, collaboration between exchanges has become increasingly important," said Len-Yu Liu, TAIFEX Chairman. "We are pleased to further develop our cooperative relationship to better serve the markets of Taiwan and the US."

The LOI signing ceremony was held in Boca Raton, Florida, on the sidelines of the FIA International Futures Industry Conference 2015.

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, its trading facilities in New York and Chicago, and through its London-based CME Europe derivatives exchange. CME Group also operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers through CME Clearing and CME Clearing Europe, which offer clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded contracts and over-the-counter derivatives transactions. These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk.

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. KCBOT, KCBT and Kansas City Board of Trade are trademarks of The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, 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.

Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX), established in 1997, is the first and only derivatives exchange in Taiwan. It provides a wide range of products, including stock index futures and options, single stock futures and options, interest rate futures and commodity futures and options. TAIFEX has continuously enhanced its technology and services in trading, clearing and settlement to ensure a fair and orderly marketplace. With a vision of world-class exchange befitting the fast-evolving marketplace, TAIFEX is poised to extend its global reach and stands as a primary derivatives exchange in Asia. For further details, please visit TAIFEX website at www.taifex.com.tw.

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SOURCE CME Group