CME Group and Citadel to Launch the First Integrated
Credit Default Swaps Trading Platform and Central Counterparty
Facility, Linked to CME Clearing Tuesday October 7, 9:07 am ET
Joint Venture will Facilitate Clearing for Existing Swap Contracts within 30 Days
CHICAGO, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CME Group, the world's largest
and most diverse derivatives exchange, and Citadel Investment Group, L.L.C., a
leading alternative investment and technology firm, today announced they have
executed a non-binding term sheet to launch a joint venture company within 30
days, which will be the first electronic trading platform that is fully
integrated with a central counterparty clearing facility for Credit Default
Swaps (CDS). CME Clearing, the world's largest derivatives clearing house,
will be the central counterparty for this solution.
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The joint venture will operate as an independent organization with its own
board of directors and management team. CME Group and Citadel have invited
major CDS market participants to join as Founding Members by allocating up to
30 percent of the equity in the venture, and by offering certain market maker
privileges to such Founding Members. The equity and market maker incentives
are designed to encourage participants to both migrate existing positions and
to trade new CDS contracts on the platform.
As a fully integrated trading and clearing solution, the joint venture
will provide the following benefits to market participants:
-- Enhanced liquidity through standardized contracts with fixed coupons
for all the leading CDS indices and their underlying single-name components,
with OTC market conventions, including credit event procedures;
-- CME Group's well-established clearing, settlement and risk management
capabilities with Citadel's state-of-the-art technology for price discovery,
matching engine, and risk management analytics;
-- Facilities to convert existing bilateral trades to standardized
contracts and straight through processing into CME Clearing, reducing
bilateral credit risks, outstanding notional balances and capital requirements
while providing more flexibility for trading in and out of existing positions;
and,
-- The joint venture has entered into preliminary licensing discussions
with Markit, a leading financial information services company that owns the
most widely traded CDS indices and Markit RED, the industry-standard CDS
identifiers.
In today's environment, effective risk management is more important than
ever as investors seek transparent, secure and liquid market alternatives,
particularly for credit default swaps," said CME Group Executive Chairman
Terry Duffy. "Combining Citadel's leading CDS technology with the renowned
safety and soundness of CME Clearing, this joint venture is a
best-of-both-worlds solution that will reduce much of the systematic risk
inherent in the current CDS market structure."
"It is imperative to bring stability and transparency to the CDS market,"
said Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel Investment Group. "This venture
is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art solution that addresses today's immediate
concerns and provides tremendous opportunity for market users into the
future."
"Recent market events highlight the urgent need to reduce counterparty
credit risks in the CDS market as well as the other over-the-counter markets.
Our innovative new partnership with Citadel, and our invitation to leading
market participants to join this first-ever integrated solution, is a key
turning point in improving the functioning of these important markets," said
Craig Donohue, Chief Executive Officer of CME Group. "This platform provides
an important opportunity for market participants to demonstrate to customers
and regulators alike how these markets can be better organized to meet
legitimate hedging and trading needs while reducing operational and credit
risks that have grown unchecked in the OTC market."
Platform participation is open to all qualified commercial market
participants. The launch of trading is subject to completion of definitive
agreements and any necessary regulatory approvals.
About CME Group
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. By acting as the buyer to every seller and the seller to every
buyer, CME Clearing virtually eliminates counterparty credit risk CME
Clearing also offers $7 billion in 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".
About Citadel Investment Group, L.L.C.
Citadel is a leading global financial institution focused on alternative
investment strategies and services. The Citadel group of companies employs
1,400 professionals worldwide in Chicago, London, New York City, Hong Kong,
Tokyo, San Francisco and Bermuda.
Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-
looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance
and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict.
Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is
expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. Detailed information
about factors that may affect the performance of CME Group may be found in its
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent
Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is available in the Investor Relations
section of the CME Group Web site. Additionally, the proposed joint venture is
subject to negotiation of definitive agreements, , customary closing
conditions and receipt of all regulatory approvals and we cannot assure you
that such agreements or conditions will be satisfied. We undertake no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.