15.3.2011
By Simon Miller
CME Clearing Europe will begin clearing more than 150 OTC energy and commodity derivative products from 6 May.
The wholly-owned London-based subsidiary of CME Group will clear eight OTC contracts based on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange's Oman crude oil futures contract that will continue to be available for clearing through CME Clearing. CME Clearing Europe will also begin clearing an OTC derivative contract based on rapeseed oil prices. Rapeseed oil is used for food and non-food usage (e.g., cosmetics) as well as in the manufacturing of biodiesel fuels. The rapeseed oil contract is an expansion of CME Group's European product offering, which goes beyond the existing product range listed for clearing in the United States and will be followed by additional regionally specific products.
Fifteen international financial firms are on track to become initial clearing members, including Bache Commodities Limited, BHF-BANK AG, BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Limited, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Bank AG, INTL Global Currencies Limited, HSBC Bank PLC, MFGlobal UK Limited, Newedge Group (UK Branch), Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, State Street Bank GmbH, and UBS Limited. In addition, Citibank will join Barclays Bank PLC and J.P. Morgan as settlement banks for CME Clearing Europe and its clearing members.
CME Clearing Europe was approved as a Recognised Clearing House by the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom in December 2010. Separately, CME Clearing Europe has applied to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to become a registered Derivatives Clearing Organization.
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