CHICAGO and LONDON, Aug. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider, announced that they have entered into a licensing agreement establishing CME Group as a global partner for futures, options on futures and OTC cleared products on FTSE Russell.

"We're pleased to partner with FTSE Russell to help investors around the globe better manage equity index exposure," said CME Group Executive Chairman and President Terry Duffy.  "Together, we will provide market participants with the capital efficiencies of trading multiple indexes on one platform and through a single clearing house." 

"We are delighted to have signed an agreement with CME Group to develop a range of equity index futures products in the United States, based on FTSE Russell's key benchmarks," said FTSE Russell Chief Executive Officer Mark Makepeace. "With more than $10 trillion of assets under management benchmarked to our indexes, this new partnership recognizes our growing position both in the domestic US market and globally. We look forward to working with CME Group to provide investors with access to some of the most actively traded indexes in the world."

"Combining our strengths with those of FTSE Russell's offers an unparalleled opportunity for the global markets," said CME Group Chief Executive Officer Phupinder Gill. "Together, we are uniquely positioned to drive more efficient, inventive and robust solutions for our clients across global equity benchmarks."

CME Group will launch futures on the Russell 1000, Russell 1000 Growth and Russell 1000 Value, FTSE 100, FTSE Emerging Markets, FTSE Developed Europe and FTSE China 50 indexes by the end of Q4 2015. Russell 2000 futures will be listed by and subject to the rules of CME beginning Q3 2017.

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 Globe® 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, Globe 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.

About FTSE Russell
FTSE Russell is a global index leader that provides innovative benchmarking, analytics and data solutions for investors worldwide. FTSE Russell calculates thousands of indexes that measure and benchmark markets and asset classes in more than 80 countries, covering 98% of the investable market globally.

FTSE Russell index expertise and products are used extensively by institutional and retail investors globally. Leading asset owners, asset managers, ETF providers and investment banks use FTSE Russell indexes to benchmark their investment performance and create ETFs, structured products and index-based derivatives.

A core set of universal principles guides FTSE Russell index design and management: a transparent rules-based methodology is informed by independent committees of leading market participants. FTSE Russell is focused on applying the highest industry standards in index design and governance. FTSE Russell is also focused on index innovation and client collaboration as it seeks to enhance the breadth, depth and reach of its offering. FTSE Russell is wholly owned by London Stock Exchange Group. For more information, visit www.ftserussell.com.

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SOURCE CME Group