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Ross joins CME from Cantor Fitzgerald & Company, and will be responsible for executing CME’s interest rate products business strategy. She will focus on expanding the company’s global client base, increasing electronic trading volumes of CME Eurodollars on Globex®, and further developing CME’s interest rate options business.
“We are delighted to add Robin’s 26 years of expertise and enthusiasm to our already strong Interest Rate Products Group, as her proven record of achievement in the futures industry will add value to CME,” said CME CEO Craig Donohue. “Her leadership and knowledge of our products—as well as the needs of our current and prospective interest rate customers—will help CME to continue to expand distribution of our products to market participants worldwide.”
During 2004, CME’s interest rate product line has experienced tremendous growth in terms of overall trading volumes, electronic trading on CME Globex and the addition of significant new client segments. The CME Eurodollar contract is the most actively traded futures contract in the world, trading an average daily volume of over 1.3 million contracts in November 2004, compared to 812,000 contracts in November 2003. Year-to-date total interest rate volume has increased to over 400 million contracts as of November 2004, compared to 287 million contracts in November 2003. Year-to-date electronic total interest rate volume has grown to nearly 135 million contracts as of November 2004, compared to just 10 million contracts one year ago. Trading of CME interest rate products is now over 55 percent electronic, driven primarily by the growth of CME Eurodollar Futures on Globex. In January, CME Eurodollar futures were 10 percent electronic; in November, they were 74 percent electronic.
Since 2003, Ross, 48, has served as Managing Director, Chicago Futures Division for Cantor Fitzgerald & Company, where she was responsible for building the firms’ financial futures and clearing business in North America. She worked as a sales consultant to and representative for JPMorgan Chase Futures, most recently serving as Vice President from 2001-03. She also served as J.P. Morgan Futures’ CME Floor Sales Manager from 1995-2001, where she was responsible for sales and relationship management with CME.
Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Ross served as CME Floor Manager for Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation from 1991-95. She also held futures and securities leadership positions for a variety of companies early in her career, including LIT America Financial Futures Group, Westpac Pollock Government Securities, GNP Commodities, Atlantic National Bank of Florida, and Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc.
A resident of Glenview, Ill., she earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1978. She is a NASD registered Series 3, 7, 63 and 24 representative.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is the largest futures exchange in the United States. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and CME Globex® electronic trading platform. CME offers futures and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moved approximately $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments in the first nine months of 2004 and managed $39.8 billion in collateral deposits as of September 30, 2004. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME), which is part of the Russell 1000® Index.
