In his new position, Sears will be responsible for overall management and development of CME's foreign exchange business. This includes futures and options on futures on the euro, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc and other currencies. Average daily trading volume of these products has grown in the second and third quarters of 2001 versus 2000 after CME introduced "side-by-side" electronic and open outcry trading of CME foreign exchange and cross-rate futures contracts on April 2.
"We are delighted to welcome Rick to CME," said Nandapurkar, Managing Director, Products and Services. "His experience and knowledge of our key customers' needs will be invaluable as CME strives to better serve participants in its foreign exchange markets. In particular, Rick will be responsible for further developing our business in 'side-by-side' electronic and open outcry trading, which has been well-received by market participants to date."
Before joining CME, Sears was Managing Director, Global Foreign Exchange for Bank of America, San Francisco. He began working at Bank of America in 1993. Previously, Sears held the positions of vice president with Nippon Credit Bank, First Interstate Bank of California and Bankers Trust Company. He began his career in 1981 as an international banking officer with Wells Fargo Bank in New York.
Sears holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., and a master's degree in international management from Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Ariz.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is an international marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX®2 around-the-clock electronic trading system. CME offers futures contracts and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moves about $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments and manages $30.1 billion in collateral deposits.
