CME Group and FTSE Russell 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," says 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," says FTSE Russell Chief Executive Officer Mark Makepeace (pictured). "With more than USD10 trillion of assets under management benchmarked to our indexes, this new partnership recognises 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," says 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.