Edgar Filing: CME GROUP INC.

CME-2012.12.31 10K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

_________________________________________________________

FORM 10-K

_________________________________________________________

(Mark One)



ý	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2012



¨	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission File Number 001-31553

CME GROUP INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



Delaware		36-4459170
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)		(IRS Employer Identification No.)

20 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois		60606
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (312) 930-1000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:



Title Of Each Class		Name Of Each Exchange On Which Registered
Class A Common Stock $0.01 par value		NASDAQ GLOBAL SELECT MARKET

_________________________________________________________

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: Class B common stock, Class B-1, $0.01 par value; Class B common stock, Class B-2, $0.01 par value; Class B common stock, Class B-3, $0.01 par value; and Class B common stock, Class B-4, $0.01 par value.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ý No ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No ý

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ý No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ý

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:



Large accelerated filer x		Accelerated filer o

Non-accelerated filer o	(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)	Smaller reporting company o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ¨ No ý

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 29 2012, was approximately $17.7 billion (based on the closing price per share of CME Group Inc. Class A common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (NASDAQ) on such date). The number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock as of February 13, 2013 was as follows: 333,577,524 shares of Class A common stock, $0.01 par value; 625 shares of Class B common stock, Class B-1, $0.01 par value; 813 shares of Class B common stock, Class B-2, $0.01 par value; 1,287 shares of Class B common stock, Class B-3, $0.01 par value; and 413 shares of Class B common stock, Class B-4, $0.01 par value.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:



Documents		Form 10-K Reference
Portions of the CME Group Inc.’s Proxy Statement for the 2013 Annual Meeting of Shareholders		Part III

Table of Contents

CME GROUP INC.

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

INDEX



		Page

PART I.		3

Item 1.	Business	5

Item 1A.	Risk Factors	17

Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	28

Item 2.	Properties	29

Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	29

Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	30

PART II.		30

Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	30

Item 6.	Selected Financial Data	33

Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	35

Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk	53

Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	58

Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	93

Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	93

Item 9B.	Other Information	96

PART III.		96

Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	96

Item 11.	Executive Compensation	96

Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters	96

Item 13.	Certain Relationships, Related Transactions and Director Independence	97

Item 14.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services	97

PART IV.		98

Item 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules	98

Signatures		103

Table of Contents

PART I

Certain Terms

All references to “options” or “options contracts” in the text of this document refer to options on futures contracts.

Unless otherwise indicated, references to CME Group Inc. (CME Group) products include references to exchange-traded products on one of its regulated exchanges: Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME), Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. (CBOT), New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX), Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX) and The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, Inc. (KCBT). Products listed on these exchanges are subject to the rules and regulations of the particular exchange and the applicable rulebook should be consulted. Unless otherwise indicated, references to NYMEX include its subsidiary, COMEX.

Further information about CME Group and its products can be found at http://www.cmegroup.com. Information made available on our Web site does not constitute a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Information about Contract Volume and Average Rate per Contract

All amounts regarding contract volume and average rate per contract exclude our TRAKRS, Swapstream, credit default swaps, interest rate swaps and CME Clearing Europe contracts.

Trademark Information

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex, E-mini, Green Exchange, The Green Exchange and Design, and GreenX are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. KCBT and Kansas City Board of Trade are trademarks of The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, Inc. Dow Jones, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and S&P are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC, Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and S&P/Dow Jones Indices LLC, as the case may be, and have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

From time to time, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as in other written reports and verbal statements, we discuss our expectations regarding future performance. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “could,” “estimate,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “expect” and similar expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data, current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industries in which we operate and management's beliefs and assumptions. 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. We want to caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Among the factors that might affect our performance are:


•	increasing competition by foreign and domestic entities, including increased competition from new entrants into our markets and consolidation of existing entities;


•	our ability to keep pace with rapid technological developments, including our ability to complete the development, implementation and maintenance of the enhanced functionality required by our customers while ensuring that such technology is not vulnerable to security risks;


•	our ability to continue introducing competitive new products and services on a timely, cost-effective basis, including through our electronic trading capabilities, and our ability to maintain the competitiveness of our existing products and services, including our ability to provide effective services to the over-the-counter market;


•	our ability to adjust our fixed costs and expenses if our revenues decline;


•	our ability to maintain existing customers, develop strategic relationships and attract new customers;


•	our ability to expand and offer our products outside the United States;


•	changes in domestic and non-U.S. regulations, including the impact of any changes in domestic and foreign laws or government policy with respect to our industry, including any changes to regulations and policies that require increased financial and operational resources from us or our customers;

Table of Contents


•	the costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights and our ability to operate our business without violating the intellectual property rights of others;


•	our ability to generate revenue from our market data that may be reduced or eliminated by the growth of electronic trading, the state of the overall economy or declines in subscriptions;


•	changes in our rate per contract due to shifts in the mix of the products traded, the trading venue and the mix of customers (whether the customer receives member or non-member fees or participates in one of our various incentive programs) and the impact of our tiered pricing structure;


•	the ability of our financial safeguards package to adequately protect us from the credit risks of clearing members;


•	the ability of our compliance and risk management methods to effectively monitor and manage our risks, including our ability to prevent errors and misconduct and protect our infrastructure against security breaches and misappropriation of our intellectual property assets;


•	changes in price levels and volatility in the derivatives markets and in underlying equity, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodities markets;


•	economic, political and market conditions, including the volatility of the capital and credit markets and the impact of economic conditions on the trading activity of our current and potential customers stemming from the continued uncertainty in the financial markets;


•	our ability to accommodate increases in contract volume and order transaction traffic without failure or degradation of the performance of our trading and clearing systems;


•	our ability to execute our growth strategy and maintain our growth effectively;


•	our ability to manage the risks and control the costs associated with our acquisition, investment and alliance strategy;


•	our ability to continue to generate funds and/or manage our indebtedness to allow us to continue to invest in our business;


•	industry and customer consolidation;


•	decreases in trading and clearing activity;


•	the imposition of a transaction tax or user fee on futures and options on futures transactions and/or repeal of the 60/40 tax treatment of such transactions;


•	the unfavorable resolution of material legal proceedings; and


•	the seasonality of the futures business.

For a detailed discussion of these and other factors that might affect our performance, see Item 1A. of this Report beginning on page 17.

Table of Contents


ITEM 1.	BUSINESS

GENERAL DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS

Building on the heritage of its futures exchanges (CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX and KCBT), CME Group serves the risk management and investment needs of customers around the globe.

CME was founded in 1898 as a not-for-profit corporation. In 2000, CME demutualized and became a shareholder-owned corporation. As a consequence, we adopted a for-profit approach to our business, including strategic initiatives aimed at optimizing contract volume, efficiency and liquidity. In 2002, Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (CME Holdings) completed its initial public offering of its Class A common stock, which is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “CME”. In 2007, CME Holdings merged with CBOT Holdings, Inc. and was renamed CME Group. In connection with the merger, we acquired the CBOT exchange. CBOT is a leading marketplace for trading agricultural and U.S. Treasury futures as well as options on futures. In 2008, we merged with NYMEX Holdings and acquired NYMEX and COMEX. On NYMEX, customers primarily trade energy futures and options contracts, including contracts for crude oil, natural gas, heating oil and gasoline, as well as over-the-counter energy transactions cleared through CME ClearPort. On COMEX, customers trade metal futures and options contracts, including contracts for gold, silver and copper. We launched CME Clearing Europe in 2011 to expand our European presence and further extend the geographical reach of our clearing services. In January 2012, we launched our co-location business which is comprised of hosting, connectivity and customer support services providing further diversification of our revenue stream. In June 2012, we established a new joint venture in which McGraw-Hill contributed its Standard & Poor's (S&P) Indices business and we contributed a portion of our CME Group Index Services business to create S&P/Dow Jones Indices LLC (S&P/DJI), a global leader in index services. Our CME Group Index Services business was originally formed in 2010 as part of a joint venture with Dow Jones & Company. As part of the formation of the joint venture in 2012, McGraw-Hill acquired our credit derivatives market data business. In September 2012, we applied to the United Kingdom's Financial Services Authority (FSA) to create a London-based derivatives exchange. Pending regulatory approval as a Recognized Investment Exchange, CME Europe Limited will initially begin trading foreign exchange futures products and is expected to launch mid-2013. In November 2012, we acquired KCBT, which is the leading futures market for hard red winter wheat. In 2012, we began operating a registered swap data repository service that supports credit, interest rates, commodities and foreign exchange asset classes.

Our futures and clearing business has historically been subject to the extensive regulation of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). As a result of our global operations, we are also subject to the rules and regulations of the local jurisdictions in which we conduct business. This includes the FSA, based on our offering of various CME Group products and services to European customers and the operation of CME Clearing Europe, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in connection with our offering of clearing services for security-based swaps. In July 2012, the Financial Stability Oversight Council designated our U.S. clearing house as a systemically important financial market utility which carries with it additional regulatory oversight of certain of our risk-management standards, clearing, and settlement activities.

Our principal executive offices are located at 20 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, and our telephone number is 312-930-1000.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT INDUSTRY SEGMENTS

The company reports the results of its operations as one reporting segment primarily comprised of the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX and KCBT exchanges. The remaining operations do not meet the thresholds for reporting separate segment information.

NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

We offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and real estate. Our products include both exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives. We bring buyers and sellers together through our CME Globex electronic trading platform across the globe and our open outcry trading facilities in Chicago, New York City and Kansas City, and provide hosting, connectivity and customer support for electronic trading through our co-location services. Our CME Direct technology offers side-by-side trading of exchange-listed and over-the-counter markets. We also provide clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded contracts, as well as for cleared over-the-counter derivatives transactions. Finally, we offer a wide range of market data services — including live quotes, delayed quotes, market reports and a comprehensive historical data service — and have expanded into the index services business.

Table of Contents

Our Competitive Strengths

CME Group offers a number of key differentiating elements that set it apart from its competitors, including:

Highly Liquid Markets — Our listed futures markets provide an effective forum for our customers to manage their risk and meet their investment needs relating to our markets. We believe that our customers choose to trade on our centralized market due to its liquidity and price transparency. Market liquidity — or the ability of a market to absorb the execution of large purchases or sales quickly and efficiently, whereby the market recovers quickly following the execution of large orders — is key to attracting customers and contributing to a market's success.

Most Diverse Product Line — Our products provide a means for hedging, speculation and asset allocation relating to the risks associated with, among other things, interest rate sensitive instruments, equity ownership, changes in the value of foreign currency, credit risk and changes in the prices of agricultural, energy and metal commodities. The estimated percentage of clearing and transaction fees revenue contributed by each product line is as follows:



Product Line	2012		2011		2010
Interest rate	25	%	27	%	27	%
Equity	19		21		21
Foreign exchange	7		7		7
Agricultural commodity	16		13		12
Energy	27		26		27
Metal	6		6		6

We believe that the breadth and diversity of our product lines and the variety of their underlying contracts is beneficial to our overall performance when an individual product line or individual product is impacted by macroeconomic factors. Additionally, our asset classes contain various products designed to address differing risk management needs.

Our products are traded through the CME Globex electronic trading platform, our open outcry auction markets in Chicago, New York City and Kansas City, and through privately negotiated transactions that we clear. The estimated percentage of clearing and transaction fees revenue contributed by each trading venue is as follows:



Trading Venue	2012		2011		2010
Electronic	76	%	75	%	74	%
Open outcry	7		9		10
Privately negotiated	6		5		5
CME ClearPort (OTC)	11		11		11

Our products generate valuable information regarding prices and trading activity. We distribute our market data over the CME market data platform directly to our electronic trading customers as part of their access to our markets, as well as to quote vendors who consolidate our market data with that from other exchanges, other third-party data providers and news sources, and then resell their consolidated data. The estimated contributions of our market data and information services products, excluding our index market data offerings, based on percentage of total revenue over the last three years, were 12% in 2012, 10% in 2011 and 11% in 2010.

In 2010, we expanded our market data offerings through our joint venture with Dow Jones — CME Group Index Services — which further diversified our revenue streams. In June 2012, we established our new joint venture with McGraw-Hill and contributed a portion of our CME Group Index Services business to create S&P/DJI. We derived 2% of our revenues from our index services business in 2012, 3% in 2011 and 2% in 2010.

Safety and Soundness of our Markets — We understand the importance of ensuring that our customers are able to manage and contain their trading risks. As the markets and the economy have evolved, we have worked to adapt our clearing services to meet the needs of our customers. We apply robust risk management standards and enforce and facilitate applicable CFTC customer protection standards for exchange-traded products and cleared over-the-counter derivatives. Clearing member firms are continually monitored and examined to assess their outstanding risk, capital adequacy and compliance with customer protection rules and regulations. We utilize a combination of risk management capabilities to assess our clearing firms and their account exposure levels for all asset classes 24 hours a day throughout the trading week. Our U.S. clearing house is operated within our CME exchange. We also operate a UK clearing house — CME Clearing Europe. In connection with our acquisition of KCBT, we acquired its clearing house. We expect to complete the integration of the KCBT clearing house with our U.S. clearing house in April 2013.

Table of Contents

Our integrated clearing function is designed to ensure the safety and soundness of our markets. Our clearing services are designed to protect the financial integrity of our markets by serving as the counterparty to every trade, becoming the buyer to each seller and the seller to each buyer, and limiting credit risk. The clearing house is responsible for settling trading accounts, clearing trades, collecting and maintaining performance bond funds, regulating delivery and reporting trading data. CME Clearing marks open positions to market at least twice a day, and requires payment from clearing firms whose positions have lost value and makes payments to clearing firms whose positions have gained value. For select cleared-only markets, positions are marked-to-market daily, with the capacity to mark-to-market more frequently as market conditions warrant. We also offer clearing services through CME ClearPort, a comprehensive set of flexible clearing services for the global over-the-counter market backed by CME Clearing. See “Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk,” beginning on page 53 and “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” beginning on page 17, for more information on our financial safeguards package and the associated credit risks related to our clearing services.

Superior Trading Technology and Distribution — We strive to provide the most flexible architecture in terms of bringing new technology, innovations and solutions to the market. Our CME Globex electronic trading platform is accessible on a global basis nearly 24 hours a day throughout the trading week. In 2012, we launched the next generation of CME Globex reducing order entry and market data latency variability along with increasing capacity and cost efficiency.

Our platform offers:


•	certainty of execution;


•	vast capabilities to facilitate complex and demanding trading;


•	direct market access;


•	fairness, price transparency and anonymity; and


•	global distribution, including connection through high-speed international telecommunications hubs in key financial centers in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and hosting or global order routing to our global partner exchanges.

In January 2012, we launched our service offerings for co-location at our data center facility, which houses our trading match engines for all products traded on the CME Globex platform. The service provides the lowest latency connection for our customers. The offering is made available to all customers on equal terms. We derived 2% of our revenues from our co-location business in 2012. We also enhanced our trading technology with the launch of CME Direct, which offers on-line trading of both exchange-traded and over-the-counter markets. In 2012, 84% of our contract volume was conducted electronically.

Our Strategic Initiatives

The following is a description of our strategic initiatives:

Leading Core Business Innovation — We continue to enhance our customer relations to allow us to further cross-sell our products, expand on the strength of our existing benchmark products and launch new products. Over the last three years, our key new product launches included the Ultra-long Bond Treasury futures and options, Weekly Treasury options and a deliverable interest rate swap futures product. During the year, we also completed the acquisition of the KCBT, providing customers with greater capital efficiencies, new trading opportunities and additional products to manage their global wheat price risk. We also acquired the Green Exchange, LLC and integrated its products into our energy product suite which adds to our energy complex and expands our reach into the environmental market.

Globalizing our Company and our Business — Our goal is to continue to expand and diversify our customer base worldwide and offer customers around the world the most broadly diversified portfolio of benchmark products. We expanded our product suite with the launch of a number of regionally specific products, including Black Sea Wheat, deliverable renminbi futures and Chinese Steel Rebar swap futures, which help us appeal to risk management needs unique to a particular geography. We continue to believe that we have significant opportunity to expand the participation of our non-U.S. customer base in our markets. We are focusing on core growth in global markets because we believe that Asia, Latin America, and other emerging markets will experience superior economic and financial markets growth over the next decade compared with the more mature North American and European markets. In particular, we plan to expand our presence in major financial centers in Asia, grow our commodities business with non-U.S. customers and products and penetrate emerging markets, such as China and India.

To further enhance our customers' trading opportunities, we have partnered with leading exchanges around the world to make their products available on or through our CME Globex platform and network. These arrangements allow our customers to access many of the world's most actively traded equity futures contracts — Brazilian IBovespa index futures, Korean Kospi 200 index futures, Indian Nifty 50 index futures, Japanese Nikkei 225 index futures and the Mexican IPC index. These strategic relationships allow us to accelerate our market penetration, expand our customer reach, lower barriers of access to global benchmarks and develop product sales channels with local brokers. These relationships are also designed to allow the

Table of Contents

customers of our partner exchanges to access our products and markets. During 2012, we strengthened our international partnerships, including implementing our cross-listing and cross-licensing arrangement with BM&FBOVESPA S.A. (BM&FBOVESPA), and increasing our investment in the Dubai Mercantile Exchange to help build the new benchmark for crude oil East of Suez.

In May 2011, we launched CME Clearing Europe and we have made steady progress building on our European presence to further extend the geographical reach of our clearing services. We offer clearing services on over-the-counter commodity derivative products, including energy, agriculture, freight and precious metals, through CME Clearing Europe, and we continue to expand the range of eligible products. Next steps include the clearing of interest rate swaps.

In September 2012, we applied to the FSA for approval to create a London-based exchange that will initially offer trading of foreign exchange futures products and ultimately expand into other products. We believe establishing an exchange in the United Kingdom will leverage the central counterparty model of CME Clearing Europe and will allow us to more closely align with our regional customers in both listed and over-the-counter markets, and will provide additional opportunities to our expanding non-U.S. customer base.

Expanding our Existing Customer Base and Enhancing our Product and Services Offerings to Meet their Risk Management Needs — We plan to grow our business by targeting cross asset sales across client segments, driving international sales (specifically in Asia and Europe) and generating new client participation across all regions. We have a long history of providing customer choice and flexibility and believe that our products and services make us well positioned to help our customers adapt and comply with the new regulations, while enabling them to manage their risks in as efficient a manner as possible. With the continued implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) and Basel III Interim Capital Framework (Basel III), we expect global banks to look for capital efficiencies and move to centralized clearing on a futures exchange. We continue to focus on new customer onboarding for swaps clearing services, expanding our over-the-counter product offerings and working with the buy- and sell-sides to meet their needs for real-time clearing, risk management and data reporting.

Extending our Capabilities and Business in the Over-the-Counter Markets — Our goal is to provide a comprehensive multi-asset class clearing solution to the market for maximum operational ease and the capital efficiency that comes with connecting to a single clearing house. Our over-the-counter offerings provide participants the extensive counterparty credit risk reduction and transparency of our clearing services while preserving the prevailing execution processes, technology platforms and economic structures currently in use in the marketplace. We have built a multi-asset class over-the-counter clearing solution. We offer clearing services for cleared over-the-counter derivatives in interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, foreign exchange and commodities. In 2012, we strengthened the capabilities of our over-the-counter product offering with the launch of portfolio margining of interest rate swaps and futures positions for all market participants. We continue to collaborate with buy- and sell-side customers to provide the innovative products and services they need to manage their risk effectively in a continuously evolving marketplace. In 2012, we cleared over-the-counter transactions with a notional value of over $1.1 trillion, and open interest as of December 31, 2012 was $691.8 billion. Our CME ClearPort platform offers an array of clearing services that depend on the nature of the product traded and has the capacity to clear and report transactions in multiple asset classes.

Establishing Ourselves as the Leading Exchange Company Provider of Information Products and Index Services and Enhancing our Intellectual Property Portfolio — We offer a variety of market data services for the futures, equities and the over-the-counter markets. In June 2012, we established a new joint venture in which McGraw-Hill contributed its S&P Indices business and we contributed a portion of our CME Group Index Services business to create S&P/DJI, a global leader in index services. This new venture creates a leading index provider well-positioned to serve global institutional and retail customers and will allow us to continue to be innovative with product development and co-branding across asset classes. As part of the agreement, we acquired a long-term, ownership-linked, exclusive license to list futures and options on futures based on the S&P Indices. Our CME Group Index Services business was originally formed in 2010 as part of a joint venture with Dow Jones & Company. We also plan to expand our existing intellectual property portfolio for our technology and product and services offerings.

Patents, Trademarks and Licenses

We own the rights to a large number of trademarks, service marks, domain names and trade names in the United States, Europe and in other parts of the world. We have registered many of our most important trademarks in the United States and other countries. We hold the rights to a number of patents and have made a number of patent applications. Our patents cover match engine, trader user interface, trading floor support, market data, general technology and clearing house functionalities. We also own the copyright to a variety of materials. Those copyrights, some of which are registered, include printed and on-line publications, web sites, advertisements, educational material, graphic presentations and other literature, both textual and electronic. We attempt to protect our intellectual property rights by relying on trademarks, patents, copyrights, database rights, trade secrets, restrictions on disclosure and other methods.

Table of Contents

We offer equity index futures and options on key benchmarks, including S&P, NASDAQ, Dow Jones and Nikkei indexes. We also have an agreement with the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) to list futures and options on futures for volatility indexes on a variety of asset classes. These products are listed by us subject to license agreements with the applicable owners of the indexes. We have exclusive arrangements with Standard & Poor's (S&P), The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ) and Dow Jones, and non-exclusive arrangements with the other third parties. In connection with our joint venture with McGraw-Hill, we entered into a new license agreement with S&P (S&P License Agreement), which superseded our prior licensing arrangements and was assigned to the joint venture. In accordance with the terms and conditions of the S&P License Agreement, the joint venture granted CME a license to use certain S&P stock indexes and the related trade names, trademarks and service marks in connection with the creating, issuing, listing, trading, clearing, marketing and promoting of futures contracts, options on futures contracts, swaps and other derivative contracts. CME’s license for the S&P 500 Index will be exclusive for futures and options on futures until one year prior to the termination of the S&P License Agreement, and non-exclusive for the last year. The license for the other S&P stock indexes is generally exclusive for futures and options on futures. The term of the S&P License Agreement will continue until the later of (i) December 31, 2017 or (ii) the date that is one year after the date that CME Group ceases to own at least five percent (accounting for dilution) of the outstanding joint venture interests. Upon the occurrence of certain events, including certain terminations of the joint venture, the term may be extended up to an additional ten years. The S&P License Agreement also provides CME with certain rights to sublicense its rights under the agreement to any third-party exchange or other organized trading facility located outside of the United States. CBOT has a license agreement (Dow Jones License Agreement) with CME Group Index Services LLC (CME Indexes), which has also been assigned to the joint venture. The Dow Jones License Agreement provides CBOT and certain of its affiliates a license to use certain Dow Jones stock indexes and the related trade names, trademarks and service marks in connection with the creating, listing, trading, clearing, marketing and promoting of futures contracts, options on futures contracts and other financial products that are based upon such Dow Jones stock indexes. Indexes to which CBOT has exclusive license rights include the Dow Jones Composite Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index, the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index and the Dow Jones Utility Average Index, among others. CBOT holds a non-exclusive license for the Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index, Dow Jones Italy Titans 30 Index, Dow Jones Sector Titans Indexes and Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index, among others. CBOT also has certain rights to sublicense its rights under the Dow Jones License Agreement to any other exchange for the trading of futures contracts and options on futures contracts. The initial term of the agreement is from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2026. Following the initial term, the Dow Jones License Agreement shall automatically renew for renewal terms of five years thereafter so long as there is open interest in any of CBOT’s or its affiliates’ products based on one or more of the Dow Jones licensed indexes. In the event there is no open interest in any such products, then CME Indexes may terminate the agreement by providing written notice of non-renewal to CBOT at least six months prior to the end of the initial term or the then current renewal term — provided that if any open interest arises during such six-month period, the agreement shall automatically renew. Our NASDAQ license is exclusive through 2019. Copies of our S&P, Dow Jones and NASDAQ license arrangements have been filed as material contracts. We pay the applicable third party per trade fees based on contract volume under the terms of these licensing agreements.

Following the well-publicized issues relating to the credibility of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), numerous investigations were undertaken by regulators and an official study of the benchmark was commissioned to evaluate potential reforms. We currently have a licensing and membership agreement with BBA Enterprises Limited and the British Bankers' Association (collectively, BBA) for the use of LIBOR to settle several of our interest rate products, including our Eurodollar contract. For the license, we paid an upfront fee and pay an annual fee. Based on the ongoing review of LIBOR, we expect LIBOR to be reformed rather than replaced and to continue as a regulated benchmark. Depending upon the outcome of the reform efforts, we may need to enter into a new license agreement with BBA or the organization appointed to administer the benchmark.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain the exclusivity of our licensing agreements with S&P, Dow Jones and NASDAQ or be able to maintain our other existing licensing arrangements. In addition, we cannot assure you that others will not succeed in creating stock index futures based on information similar to that which we have obtained by license, or that market participants will not increasingly use other instruments, including securities and options based on the S&P, Dow Jones or NASDAQ indexes, to manage or speculate on U.S. stock risks. Parties may also succeed in offering indexed products that are similar to our licensed products without being required to obtain a license, or in countries that are beyond our jurisdictional reach and/or our licensors.

Table of Contents

Seasonality

Generally, we have historically experienced relatively higher contract volume during the first and second quarters and sequentially lower contract volume in the third and fourth quarters. However, such seasonality may also be impacted by general market conditions or other events. During 2012, 27% of our consolidated revenues were recognized in the first quarter, 27% in the second quarter, 23% in the third quarter and 23% in the fourth quarter.

Working Capital

We generally meet our funding requirements with internally generated funds supplemented from time to time with public debt and commercial paper offerings. For more information on our working capital needs, see “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Operations and Financial Condition-Liquidity and Capital Resources,” beginning on page 50, which section is incorporated herein by reference.

Customer Base

Our customer base includes professional traders, financial institutions, institutional and individual investors, major corporations, manufacturers, producers and governments. Our customers can access our CME Globex trading platform across the globe. Customers may be members of one or more of our CME, CBOT, NYMEX or COMEX exchanges or a permit holder at KCBT. Rights to directly access our markets will depend upon the nature of the customer, such as whether the individual is a member or permit holder of one of our exchanges or has executed an agreement with us for direct access.

Trading rights and privileges are exchange specific. Trading on our open outcry trading floors is conducted exclusively by our members and permit holders. Membership on one of our futures exchanges or ownership of a KCBT permit also enables a customer to trade specific products at reduced rates and lower fees. Under the terms of the organizational documents of our exchanges, our members/permit holders have certain rights that relate primarily to trading right protections, certain trading fee protections and certain membership/permit holder benefit protections. In 2012, 79% of our contract volume was conducted by our members and permit holders.

The majority of clearing and transaction fees received from clearing firms represent charges for trades executed and cleared on behalf of their customers. Two firms each represented 12% of our clearing and transaction fees revenue for 2012. In the event a clearing firm were to withdraw, we believe that the customer portion of the firm's trading activity would likely transfer to another clearing firm of the exchange. In 2011, one of our largest clearing firms was placed into bankruptcy and we transferred all of their more than 30,000 customer accounts to other futures commission merchants.

Competition

The industry in which we operate is highly competitive and we expect competition to continue to intensify, especially in light of the implementation of Dodd-Frank and other reforms of the financial services industry. For example, Dodd-Frank gives the CFTC authority to require certain swaps to be cleared by central clearing houses and to require certain of those swaps mandated for clearing to be traded on exchanges or swap execution facilities, unless no exchange or swap execution facility makes the swap available for trading. While these new requirements create opportunities for us to expand our over-the-counter business, a number of market participants and other exchanges and less regulated trading platforms have developed, and likely will develop in the future, competing platforms and products.

We encounter competition in all aspects of our business, including from entities having substantially greater capital and resources, offering a wide range of products and services and some operating under a different and possibly less stringent regulatory regime. We face competition from other futures, securities and securities option exchanges; over-the-counter markets; clearing organizations; consortia formed by our members and large market participants; swap execution facilities; alternative trade execution facilities; technology firms, including market data distributors and electronic trading system developers; and others.

Competition in our Derivatives Business

We believe competition in the derivatives and securities business is based on a number of factors, including, among others:


•	depth and liquidity of markets;


•	transaction costs;


•	breadth of product offerings and rate and quality of new product development;


•	ability to position and expand upon existing products to address changing market needs;


•	transparency, reliability and anonymity in transaction processing;


•	connectivity, accessibility and distribution;

Table of Contents


•	technological capability and innovation;


•	efficient and secure settlement, clearing and support services;


•	regulatory environment; and


•	reputation.

We believe that we compete favorably with respect to these factors. Our deep, liquid markets; diverse product offerings; rate and quality of new product development; and efficient, secure settlement, clearing and support services, distinguish us from our competitors. We believe that in order to maintain our competitive position, we must continue to expand globally; develop new and innovative products; enhance our technology infrastructure, including its reliability and functionality; maintain liquidity and low transaction costs, and adopt additional customer protections designed to ensure the integrity of our market and the confidence of our customers.

Our principal competitors include other exchanges such as NYSE Euronext (NYSE), IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (ICE), the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) and Eurex Group. In addition, recent industry developments and alliances, such as the Electronic Liquidity Exchange (ELX), have resulted in a growing number of well-capitalized trading service providers that compete with all or a portion of our business. We expect industry participants to continue to look for ways to grow their business despite the challenging regulatory environment. For example, in December 2012, NYSE and ICE entered into a merger agreement pursuant to which ICE would acquire NYSE. HKEX completed its acquisition of the London Metal Exchange in 2012.

We face competition from the over-the-counter market with the trading of contracts similar to those traded or cleared on our exchanges, such as swaps, forward contracts and other exchange “look-alike” contracts, in which parties directly negotiate the terms of their contracts, as well as from spot markets, exchange-traded funds, contracts for difference and other substitutes for our products. Development of swap execution facilities and the mandated clearing requirement for certain products may create platforms that promote competitive substitutes for our privately negotiated and exchange-traded products. We primarily face competition from the LCH.Clearnet Group in interest rate swaps and ICE in credit default swaps.

Competition in our Transaction Processing Business

In addition to the competition we face in our derivatives business, we face a number of competitors in our transaction processing and other business services. In the past few years, there has been increased competition in the provision of clearing services and we expect competition to continue to increase in connection with the implementation of Dodd-Frank, which requires the mandatory central clearing of standardized over-the-counter products.

ICE has its own clearing operations which are comprised of regulated clearing houses across the United States, Europe and Canada. The Options Clearing Corporation clears U.S.-listed options and clears futures on a number of underlying financial assets including common stocks, currencies and stock indexes. New York Portfolio Clearing, a clearing house created by NYSE and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), clears interest rate futures contracts and cross-margins eligible positions against U.S. Treasury and agency securities and repurchase agreements cleared by DTCC's subsidiary, Fixed Income Clearing Corporation. We believe that other exchanges may also undertake to provide clearing services, especially in light of Dodd-Frank's clearing mandate.

We believe competition in the transaction processing and business services market is based on, among other things, the fees charged for the services provided; quality and reliability of the services; creditworthiness of the clearing house; timely delivery of the services; reputation; offering breadth; confidentiality of positions and information security protective measures; and the value of providing customers with capital efficiencies.

Competition in our Market Data Business

Technology companies, market data and information vendors and front-end software vendors also represent potential competitors because, as purveyors of market data or trading software systems, these firms typically have substantial distribution capabilities. As technology firms, they also have access to trading engines that can be connected to their data and information networks. Additionally, technology and software firms that develop trading systems, hardware and networks that are otherwise outside of the financial services industry may be attracted to enter our markets. This may lead to decreased demand for our market data.

Table of Contents

Regulatory Matters

Our operation of futures exchanges is subject to extensive regulation by the CFTC under a principles-based approach which requires that our exchange subsidiaries satisfy the requirements of certain core principles relating to the operation and oversight of our markets and our clearing house, but also, as a result of recent regulations, under a highly prescriptive regulatory regime. The CFTC carries out the regulation of the futures markets in accordance with the provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act as amended by, among others, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and Dodd-Frank. The CFTC is subject to reauthorization every five years and is scheduled for reconsideration in 2013.

In light of widespread financial and economic difficulties in the U.S. and abroad, particularly acute in the latter half of 2008 and early 2009, there were calls for a restructuring of the regulation of financial markets. Dodd-Frank, which was signed into law in 2010, is a comprehensive banking and financial services reform package that includes significant changes to the oversight of the derivatives markets, both over-the-counter and exchange-traded. Dodd-Frank reinforces the core tenets of our markets:


•	price transparency,


•	liquid markets to minimize transaction cost,


•	market integrity,


•	customer protection, and


•	the safety and soundness of central counterparty clearing services.

Since the adoption of Dodd-Frank, the CFTC, the SEC, the Department of Treasury and other regulators have engaged in extensive rulemaking to implement the legislation. CME Group and others in the industry continue to actively participate in the rulemaking process, with the goal that the final regulations serve the public interest, foster competition and innovation and do not place the U.S. financial services sector at a competitive disadvantage in the evolving global financial markets. Over the past two years, a number of regulations implementing Dodd-Frank were finalized, including rules relating to mandatory clearing and the operation of a clearing house, anti-manipulation, large trader reporting, the definition of agricultural commodity and certain provisions of the rules applicable to designated contract markets. While we continue to believe that the new regulations provide opportunities for our business which we intend to explore, a significant portion of the Act, however, remains subject to further rulemaking, and such final regulations could include provisions that negatively impact our business. Several Congressional hearings have been held to evaluate the situation and various policy suggestions have been made to ensure the protection of customer segregated funds. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant additional costs to make the necessary changes to our business to comply with the provisions of Dodd-Frank and any new regulations stemming from these events.

Our key areas of focus in the regulatory environment are:

•

Changes to the core principles for designated contract markets, including any changes to the rules implementing the competitive execution requirements of Core Principle 9. Rules promulgated under this provision may require us to make modifications to the manner in which certain of our contracts trade and/or require that such products be de-listed as futures and re-listed as swaps after a specified compliance period.


•	Changes to the self-regulatory model, which, if modified, could alter the manner in which we currently oversee our marketplace. We believe that we are best positioned to continue to conduct financial and market surveillance of our clearing firms.

•

The implementation of the position limit rules, which could have a significant impact on our commodities business relative to such markets abroad given that it does not appear that foreign jurisdictions will impose position limits rules as stringent as those adopted by the CFTC. Although the CFTC adopted new position limits, they were subsequently vacated by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and remanded back to the CFTC.

•

Concerns regarding the "one size fits all" rules for capital charges implementing Basel III, as well as whether we will be deemed a "qualified" central counterparty, and the risk that these new standards may impose overly burdensome capital requirements on our clearing members and customers, which may eliminate the incentives to trade liquid exchange-traded derivatives instead of other derivatives products with higher risk profiles.


•	The potential elimination of the 60/40 tax treatment of certain of our derivatives contracts, which would impose a significant increase in tax rates applicable to our market participants, and could result in a decrease in their trading activity.


•	The implementation of mechanisms to further protect customer funds at the futures commission merchant level, and to restore confidence in the derivatives markets.

Table of Contents

Pursuant to Dodd-Frank, in July 2012, the Financial Stability Oversight Council designated CME, due its operation of our U.S. clearing house, as a systemically important financial market utility which carries with it additional regulatory oversight of certain of our risk-management standards, clearing and settlement activities.

In 2012, we began operating a registered swap data repository service that is subject to the oversight of the CFTC and we must comply with certain core principles under the Commodity Exchange Act.

As a global company with operations and locations around the world, we are also subject to the laws and regulations in the locations in which we do business.

The financial services industry outside of the United States is also undergoing similar significant change, particularly in Europe. For example, in the United Kingdom the government has proposed to reorganize its regulatory framework, which would include the dissolution of the FSA with oversight to be transitioned in April 2013 to the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority depending upon the status of the regulated entity. As a result, in the United Kingdom our operations could be subject to multiple regulators: CME Clearing Europe Limited (our U.K. clearing house) would be regulated by the Bank of England, CME Europe Limited (our proposed U.K. exchange) would be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and CME (our U.S. clearing house) would be regulated by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) as an overseas clearing house. The European Union is also undergoing similar change with multiple supervisory authorities, such as ESMA established in 2011. In addition to the national regulators, ESMA has a supervisory and oversight role over European clearing houses, non-European clearing houses, non-European exchanges, European trade repositories and non-European trade repositories providing services in Europe. Multiple legislations such as the European Market Infrastructure Regulation, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, the Capital Requirements Directive IV and the Market Abuse Directive, have been proposed with provisions similar to those contained in Dodd-Frank.

Compliance with these new regulations may require us and our customers to dedicate significant financial and operational resources which could result in some participants leaving our markets or decreasing their trading activity which would negatively affect our profitability. To the extent the regulatory environment following the implementation of Dodd-Frank and other financial reform regulations is less beneficial for us or our customers, our business, financial condition and operating results could be negatively affected.

If we fail to comply with applicable laws, rules or regulations, we may be subject to censure, fines, cease-and-desist orders, suspension of our business, removal of personnel or other sanctions, including revocation of our designations as a contract market and derivatives clearing organization.

In 2012, notifications from one of our market data distributors made in accordance with the requirements of our market data license agreement included disclosures that such distributor had disseminated our market data to the Government Trading Corporation (GTC) and to a European subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). In 2012, the gross revenues attributable to these indirect subscriptions made through the distributor were $3,150. The terms and conditions on which the market data was disseminated by the distributor to GTC and NIOC are the same as would be provided to any other indirect subscriber. Other than the execution of a uniform subscriber addendum that is made available to all of our distributors for use with their subscribers, we do not have any contractual or other relationship with GTC or NIOC. We believe that the distribution of our market data, which is otherwise publicly available in other forms on our Web site on a real-time and delayed basis, is exempt from applicable U.S. sanctions programs pursuant to a statutory and regulatory exemption for exports of information and informational materials. Nevertheless, we are in the process of requesting that our market data distributors refrain from providing our market data to their subscribers that are located in sanctioned countries or identified on the U.S. Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. The distribution of our market data to GTC and NIOC is subject to disclosure pursuant to Section 219 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (ITRSHR Act) and Section 13(r) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), which requires an issuer to disclose in its annual or quarterly reports, as applicable, whether it or any of its affiliates knowingly engaged in certain activities, transactions or dealings relating to Iran or with designated natural persons or entities involved in terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Disclosure is required whether or not the activities are sanctionable under U.S. law. In connection with these disclosures, we will be required to separately file, concurrently with this Annual Report, a notice that such activities have been disclosed in this report, which notice must also contain the information required by Section 13(r) of the Exchange Act.

There continues to be significant focus among the CFTC, SEC and foreign regulators relating to perceived risks, level playing field considerations and potential market abuses associated with algorithmic trading and high frequency trading following recent highly publicized technical problems, including the 2010 “flash crash” and the significant losses incurred by Knight Capital. Although not clearly defined, high frequency trading typically refers to professional traders, acting in a proprietary capacity, that engage in strategies that generate a large number of trades on a daily basis. The CFTC has formed a subcommittee to define high frequency trading within the context of automated trading systems, determine the appropriateness

Table of Contents

of creating multiple categories for high frequency traders, conduct an analysis of the oversight, surveillance and economic aspects, and identify potential market disruptions that could be provoked by such traders and possible mitigations. We believe, and there is considerable supporting evidence, that high frequency traders play an important role in the marketplace by increasing liquidity, narrowing spreads and enhancing the efficiency of markets. At this time, however, it is unclear whether these inquires will result in restrictions on the use of high frequency trading.

In the United States and Europe, there are several proposals to tax financial transactions or to assess user fees for market participants. For example, in the United States, there is discussion of assessing a user fee to fund the CFTC, and in Europe, legislative bodies are considering a tax on all financial transactions. In the past, efforts to implement a transaction tax or user fee have not been successful. The implementation of additional costs to use our markets may discourage institutions and individuals from using our products to manage their risks, which could adversely impact our contract volumes, revenues and profits, and may also adversely impact our ability to compete on an international level. A transaction tax or user fee in the U.S. may also cause market participants to transition to, and/or increase their derivatives trading in, jurisdictions outside the U.S. which do not necessarily impose a comparable cost at this time.

In addition, the U.S. Congress may propose to eliminate the favorable 60/40 tax treatment for futures. The current tax treatment for futures trading allows certain traders to pay a blend of taxes on their gains and losses from trading futures and options, with 60% at capital gains rates and 40% at ordinary tax rates. Any repeal of 60/40 tax treatment would impose a substantial increase in tax rates applicable to our market participants who are most responsible for creating liquid and efficient markets.

Employees

As of December 31, 2012, we had approximately 2,600 employees. We consider relations with our employees to be good.

Executive Officers

The following are our executive officers, including a description of their business experience over the last five years. Ages are as of February 1, 2013. Effective as of April 2012, the titles for CME Group's Management Team were changed from Managing Director to Senior Managing Director. As the change was not a substantive change in the individual's role at the Company, we have continued to reflect the original date that the individuals assumed their current roles.

Terrence A. Duffy, 54

Mr. Duffy has served as our Executive Chairman and President since May 2012. Mr. Duffy previously served as our Executive Chairman from 2006 and has been a member of our board of directors since 1995. He also served as President of TDA Trading, Inc. from 1981 to 2002 and has been a member of our CME exchange since 1981.

Phupinder S. Gill, 52

Mr. Gill has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since May 2012. Previously, he served as our President from 2007 to May 2012. Mr. Gill joined us in 1988 and since then has held various positions of increasing responsibility within the organization, including President and Chief Operating Officer, and Managing Director and President of CME Clearing and GFX Corporation. Mr. Gill also serves as our representative on the board of Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad.

Kathleen M. Cronin, 49

Ms. Cronin has served as our Senior Managing Director, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since 2003. Previously she served as Corporate Secretary and Acting General Counsel from 2002 through 2003. Prior to joining us, Ms. Cronin was a corporate attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom from 1989 through 1995 and from 1997 through 2002.

Bryan T. Durkin, 52

Mr. Durkin has served as our Chief Operating Officer since 2007. He also held the title of Managing Director, Products and Services from 2010 to July 2012. Mr. Durkin joined us in connection with the CBOT merger and he previously held a variety of leadership roles with CBOT from 1982 to 2007, most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

Julie Holzrichter, 44

Ms. Holzrichter has served as Senior Managing Director, Global Operations since 2007. Ms. Holzrichter rejoined us in 2006 as our Managing Director, CME Globex Services and Technology Integration. Ms. Holzrichter previously held positions of increasing responsibility in our organization from 1986 to 2003 in trading operations.

Table of Contents

Kevin Kometer, 48

Mr. Kometer has served as Senior Managing Director and Chief Information Officer since 2008. He previously served as Managing Director and Deputy Chief Information Officer from 2007 to 2008. Since joining the company most recently in 1998, he has held senior leadership positions in the Technology Division, including Managing Director, Trading Execution Systems and Director, Advanced Technology. Mr. Kometer was also with the company from 1994 to 1996.

James E. Parisi, 48

Mr. Parisi has served as our Chief Financial Officer since 2004. Mr. Parisi joined us in 1988 and has held positions of increasing responsibility within the organization, including Managing Director & Treasurer and Director, Planning & Finance.

Laurent Paulhac, 43

Mr. Paulhac has served as Senior Managing Director, Financial and OTC Products & Services since 2012 and as Managing Director, OTC Products and Services from 2009 to 2012. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Paulhac most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Credit Market Analysis from 2005 to 2009.

Hilda Harris Piell, 45

Ms. Piell has served as Senior Managing Director and Chief Human Resources Officer since 2007. Previously she served as Managing Director and Senior Associate General Counsel, as Director and Associate General Counsel and as Associate Director and Assistant General Counsel since joining us in 2000.

James V. Pieper, 46

Mr. Pieper has served as our Managing Director and Chief Accounting Officer since 2010. Previously, Mr. Pieper served as Director and Controller since 2006 and as Associate Director and Assistant Controller from 2004 to 2006.

John W. Pietrowicz, 48

Mr. Pietrowicz has served as our Senior Managing Director, Business Development and Corporate Finance since 2010. Mr. Pietrowicz joined us in 2003 and since then has held various positions of increasing responsibility, including his most recent position of Managing Director and Deputy Chief Financial Officer from 2009 to 2010 and Managing Director, Corporate Finance and Treasury from 2006 to 2009.

Linda Rich, 49

Ms. Rich has served as our Senior Managing Director, Government Relations and Legislative Affairs since April 2012. Prior to assuming her current role, Ms. Rich served as Managing Director, Government Relations and Legislative Affairs since joining us in 2010. Before joining the company, Ms. Rich served as Senior Vice President, Government Relations for NYSE Euronext. Her background also includes serving as senior counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services and as counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Commerce.

Derek Sammann, 44

Mr. Sammann has served as our Senior Managing Director, Financial Products and Services since 2009. He previously served as our Global Head of Foreign Exchange Products since joining us in 2006. Prior to joining us, Mr. Sammann served as Managing Director, Global Head of FX Options and Structured Products at Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank in London from 1997 to 2006.

Kimberly S. Taylor, 51

Ms. Taylor has served as our President, CME Clearing since 2004 and as Managing Director, Risk Management in the Clearing House Division from 1998 to 2003. Ms. Taylor has held a variety of positions in the Clearing House, including Vice President and Senior Director. She joined us in 1989.

Kendal Vroman, 41

Mr. Vroman has served as our Senior Managing Director, Commodity and Information Products & Services since 2010. Mr. Vroman previously served as Managing Director and Chief Corporate Development Officer from 2008 to 2010. Mr. Vroman joined us in 2001 and since then has held positions of increasing responsibility, including most recently as Managing Director, Corporate Development and Managing Director, Information and Technology Services.

Table of Contents

Scot E. Warren, 49

Mr. Warren has served as our Senior Managing Director, Equity Index Products and Index Services since 2010. Mr. Warren previously served as our Managing Director, Equity Products since joining us in 2007. Prior to that, Mr. Warren worked for Goldman Sachs as its Vice President, Manager Trading and Business Analysis Team. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Mr. Warren managed equity and option execution and clearing businesses for ABN Amro in Chicago and was a Senior Consultant for Arthur Andersen & Co. for financial services firms.

Robert Zagotta, 48

Mr. Zagotta has served as Senior Managing Director, Products and Services of CME Group since July 2012. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Zagotta most recently served as Executive Vice President, Business Strategy and Execution for Project Leadership Associates (PLA) from 2007 to July 2012, where he worked with CME Group on a number of strategic consulting assignments. Before joining PLA, Mr. Zagotta was a Partner and Co-Founder of Fourth Floor Consulting, which was acquired by PLA, and a Senior Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT GEOGRAPHIC AREAS

CME Group has not historically tracked revenues based upon geographic location. Beginning in September 2011, we began tracking trading volume based on the country of origin of the transaction as disclosed to us by the customer. Prior to September 2011, we tracked trading volume based on the time of the execution of the trade and whether it occurred during traditional U.S. trading hours or through our international telecommunication hubs.

In 2012, we estimate that approximately 21% of our electronic trading volume originated from outside of the United States. The following table shows the percentage of our total contract volume on our Globex electronic trading platform generated during non-U.S. hours and through our international hubs for the last three years.



	2012		2011		2010
Trading during non-U.S. hours	17	%	16	%	15	%
Trading through telecommunication hubs	15	%	8	%	9	%

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

Our Web site is www.cmegroup.com. Information made available on our Web site does not constitute part of this document. We make available on our Web site our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such materials to the SEC. Our corporate governance materials, including our Corporate Governance Principles, Director Conflict of Interest Policy, Board of Directors Code of Ethics, Categorical Independence Standards, Employee Code of Conduct and the charters for all the standing committees of our board, may also be found on our Web site. Copies of these materials are also available to shareholders free of charge upon written request to Shareholder Relations, Attention Ms. Beth Hausoul, CME Group Inc., 20 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

Table of Contents


ITEM 1A.	RISK FACTORS

In addition to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, you should carefully consider the factors discussed below, which are the risks that we believe are material at this time. These risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. These risks and uncertainties are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also adversely affect our business.

RISKS RELATING TO OUR INDUSTRY

Our business is subject to the impact of domestic and international market, economic and political conditions which are beyond our control and which could significantly reduce our contract volumes and make our financial results more volatile.

Our revenue is substantially dependent on the contract volume in our markets. Our contract volume is directly affected by domestic and international factors that are beyond our control, including:


•	economic, political and geopolitical market conditions;


•	volatile weather patterns, droughts, natural disasters and other catastrophes;


•	broad trends in industry and finance;


•	changes in price levels, contract volumes and volatility in the derivatives markets and in underlying equity, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity markets;


•	changes in global or regional demand or supply shifts in commodities underlying our products;


•	legislative and regulatory changes, including any direct or indirect restrictions on or increased costs associated with trading in our markets;


•	competition;


•	changes in government monetary policies, especially central bank decisions related to quantitative easing;


•	availability of capital to our market participants and their appetite for risk-taking;


•	levels of assets under management; and


•	consolidation in our customer base and within our industry.

Any one or more of these factors may contribute to reduced activity in our markets. Historically, our trading volume has tended to increase during periods of heightened uncertainty due to increased hedging activity and the increased need to manage the risks associated with, or speculate on, volatility in the U.S. equity markets, fluctuations in interest rates and price changes in the foreign exchange, commodity and other markets. However, as evidenced by our performance in recent years, in the period after a material market disturbance, there may persist extreme uncertainties which may lead to decreased volume due to factors such as reduced risk exposure, lower interest rates, central bank asset purchase programs, and lack of available capital. During 2012, the U.S. economy remained constrained due to uncertainty surrounding the Presidential election, the pending fiscal cliff, and fears of global recession. Europe also continues to face uncertainty with some euro-zone countries in recession. As a result, period-to-period comparisons of our financial results are not necessarily meaningful. The shifts in market trading patterns experienced since the financial disturbance of 2008 may or may not persist, and they will be affected by future economic uncertainties, including the pending decisions regarding U.S. spending, central bank asset purchase activity and currency management policies around the world. All of these uncertainties as well as new surprises may result in continued decreased trading volume and a more difficult business environment for us. Material decreases in trading volume would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.

We operate in a heavily regulated environment that imposes significant costs and competitive burdens on our business and such environment is currently undergoing significant reform.

Our business has been extensively regulated by the CFTC. In response to the economic crisis, the Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law in 2010. This legislation is a comprehensive banking and financial services reform package that includes significant changes to the oversight of the derivatives markets, both over-the-counter and exchange-traded. In accordance with Dodd-Frank, the CFTC's authority has been significantly expanded to include over-the-counter derivatives.

Table of Contents

past two years, a number of regulations implementing Dodd-Frank were finalized, including rules relating to mandatory clearing and the operation of a clearing house, anti-manipulation, large trader reporting, the definition of agricultural commodity and certain provisions of the rules applicable to designated contract markets. While we continue to believe that the new regulations provide opportunities for our business which we intend to explore, a significant portion of the Act, however, remains subject to further rulemaking, and such final regulations could include provisions that negatively impact our business, including changes to Core Principle 9.

The implementation of Basel III and its "one size fits all" rules for capital charges, as well as greater capital charges that will apply if we are not deemed a "qualified" central counterparty, may impose overly burdensome capital requirements on our bank-affiliated clearing members and customers, which could eliminate the incentives to trade liquid exchange-traded derivatives instead of other derivatives products with higher risk profiles. The local rules implementing these international standards have not been finalized. We will comply with CFTC regulations that will be issued, and therefore we expect to be deemed a "qualified" central counterparty when those regulations are effective. However, to the extent that we are not deemed a "qualified" central counterparty during the interim period or thereafter, it could result in increased costs to our bank-affiliated clearing members and result in them electing to clear their business at another "qualified" central counterparty or imposing increased costs on customers that prefer to clear at CME.

Additionally, the futures industry, its self-regulatory model and the segregation and customer protection regime are under scrutiny by the CFTC and Congress. Several Congressional hearings have been held to evaluate the situation and various policy suggestions have been made to ensure the protection of customer segregated funds.

Our operation of a registered swap data repository also subjects us to additional oversight of the CFTC and we must comply with additional core principles relating to the operation of this newly formed regulated business.

As a global company with operations around the world, we are also subject to the laws and regulations in the locations in which we do business. We cannot assure you that we and/or our directors, officers, employees and affiliates will be able to fully comply with these rules and regulations. We also cannot assure you that we will not be subject to claims or actions by any of these regulatory agencies. Our subsidiaries, CME Clearing Europe, CME Marketing Europe and CME Europe Limited (subject to obtaining FSA approval), are also subject to the supervision and oversight of the FSA (and in the future by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority which will replace the FSA). The regulatory environment in the United Kingdom and the European Union is undergoing significant reforms in connection with the oversight of the financial services industry. In response to the economic crisis, a number of financial service legislations covering issues similar to those included in Dodd-Frank have also been proposed in Europe. As we continue to expand our operations in the United Kingdom with our UK clearing house and proposed UK exchange, changes in the European (including the UK) regulatory environment will have a greater impact on our business.

Compliance with these new regulations may require us and our customers to dedicate significant financial and operational resources, which could result in some participants leaving our markets or decreasing their trading activity, which would negatively affect our profitability. To the extent the regulatory environment following the implementation of Dodd-Frank and other financial reform regulations is less beneficial for us or our customers, our business, financial condition and operating results could be negatively affected.

In the United States and Europe, there are several proposals to tax financial transactions or to assess user fees for market participants. For example, in the United States, there is a discussion of assessing a user fee to fund the CFTC, and in Europe, legislative bodies are considering a tax on all financial transactions. In the past, efforts to implement a transaction tax or user fee have not been successful. The implementation of additional costs to use our markets may discourage institutions and individuals from using our products to manage their risks, which could adversely impact our contract volumes, revenues and profits and also adversely impact our ability to compete on an international level. A transaction tax or user fee in the U.S. may also cause market participants to transition and/or increase their derivatives trading in jurisdictions outside the U.S., which do not necessarily impose a comparable cost at this time.

In addition, the U.S. Congress may propose to eliminate the favorable 60/40 tax treatment for futures. The current tax treatment for futures trading allows certain traders to pay a blend of taxes on their gains and losses from trading futures and options, with 60% at capital gains rates and 40% at ordinary tax rates. Any repeal of 60/40 tax treatment would impose a substantial increase in tax rates applicable to our market participants who are responsible for creating liquid and efficient markets.

Table of Contents

Some of our largest clearing firms have indicated their belief that clearing facilities should not be owned or controlled by exchanges and should be operated as utilities and not for profit. These clearing firms have sought, and may seek in the future, legislative or regulatory changes that would, if adopted, enable them to use alternative clearing services for positions established on our exchanges or to freely move open positions among clearing houses in order to take advantage of our liquidity. Even if they are not successful, these factors may cause them to limit the use of our markets.

Some of our largest clearing firms, which are significant customers and intermediaries in our products, have stressed the importance to them of centralizing clearing of futures contracts and options on futures contracts in order to maximize the efficient use of their capital, exercise greater control over their value at risk and extract greater operating leverage from clearing activities. Many clearing firms have expressed the view that clearing firms should control the governance of clearing houses or that clearing houses should be operated as utilities rather than as part of for-profit enterprises. Some of these firms, along with certain industry associations, have sought, and may seek in the future, legislative or regulatory changes to be adopted that would facilitate mechanisms or policies that allow market participants to transfer positions from an exchange-owned clearing house to a clearing house owned and controlled by clearing firms. Our strategic business plan is to operate a vertically integrated transaction execution, clearing and settlement business for our futures and options on futures business. If these legislative or regulatory changes are adopted, our strategy and business plan may lead clearing firms to establish, or seek to use, alternative clearing houses for clearing positions established on our exchanges. Even if they are not successful in their efforts, the factors described above may cause clearing firms to limit or stop the use of our products and markets. If any of these events occur, our revenues and profits could be adversely affected.

We face intense competition from other companies, including some of our members. If we are not able to successfully compete, our business will not survive.

The industry in which we operate is highly competitive and we expect competition to continue to intensify, especially in light of the implementation of Dodd-Frank and other reforms of the financial services industry. For example, Dodd-Frank gives the CFTC authority to require certain swaps to be cleared by central clearing houses and to require certain of those swaps mandated for clearing to be traded on exchanges or swap execution facilities, unless no exchange or swap execution facility makes the swap available for clearing. While these new requirements create opportunities for us to expand our over-the-counter business, a number of market participants and other exchanges and less regulated trading platforms have developed, and likely will develop in the future, competing platforms and products.

Our principal competitors include other exchanges such as NYSE, ICE, HKEX and Eurex Group. In addition, recent industry developments and alliances, such as ELX, have resulted in a growing number of well-capitalized trading service providers that compete with all or a portion of our business. We expect industry participants to continue to look for ways to grow their business despite the challenging regulatory environment. For example, in December 2012, NYSE and ICE entered into a merger agreement pursuant to which ICE would acquire NYSE. HKEX completed its acquisition of the London Metal Exchange in 2012.

Other companies have entered into or are forming joint ventures or consortia to provide services similar to those provided by us. Others may become competitive with us through acquisitions. Federal law allows institutions that have been major participants on our exchange to trade the same or similar products among themselves without utilizing any exchange or trading system. Many of our competitors and potential competitors have greater financial, marketing, technological and personnel resources than we do. These factors may enable them to develop similar products, to provide lower transaction costs and better execution to their customers and to carry out their business strategies more quickly and efficiently than we can. In addition, our competitors may:


•	respond more quickly to competitive pressures, including responses based upon their corporate governance structures, which may be more flexible and efficient than our corporate governance structure;


•	develop products that are preferred by our customers;


•	develop risk transfer products that compete with our products;


•	price their products and services more competitively;


•	develop and expand their network infrastructure and service offerings more efficiently;


•	utilize better, more user-friendly and more reliable technology;

Table of Contents


•	take greater advantage of acquisitions, alliances and other opportunities;


•	more effectively market, promote and sell their products and services;


•	better leverage existing relationships with customers and alliance partners or exploit better recognized brand names to market and sell their services; and


•	exploit regulatory disparities between traditional, regulated exchanges and alternative markets that benefit from a reduced regulatory burden and lower-cost business model.

If our products, markets and services are not competitive, our business, financial condition and operating results will be materially harmed.

A decline in our fees or any loss of customers could lower our revenues, which would adversely affect our profitability.

Changes in regulations as a result of implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act and other restructuring of the regulation of the global financial markets or otherwise, may adversely impact our ability to compete, especially on a global basis.

Our contract volume, and consequently our revenues and profits, would be adversely affected if we are unable to retain our current customers or attract new customers.

The success of our business depends, in part, on our ability to maintain and increase our contract volume. To do so, we must maintain and expand our product offerings, our customer base and our trade execution facilities. Our success also depends on our ability to offer competitive prices and services in an increasingly price-sensitive business. For example, in recent years, some of our competitors have engaged in aggressive pricing strategies, including lowering the fees that they charge for taking liquidity and increasing liquidity payments/rebates they provide as an incentive for providers of liquidity in certain markets. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to expand our product lines, that we will be able to retain our current customers or attract new customers or that we will not be required to modify our pricing structure to compete effectively. Changes in our pricing structure may result in a decrease in our profit margin. We bill a substantial portion of our clearing and transaction fees to our clearing firms. If we are unable to effectively compete, we could experience decreased volumes. The majority of clearing and transaction fees received from clearing firms represent charges for trades executed and cleared on behalf of their customers. Two firms each represented 12% of our clearing and transaction fees revenue for 2012. Should a clearing firm withdraw, we believe that the customer portion of the firm's trading activity would likely transfer to another clearing firm of the exchange. Additionally, from time to time, certain customers may represent a significant portion of the open interest in our individual product lines or contracts. If we fail to maintain our contract volume; expand our product offerings or execution facilities; or lose a substantial number of our current customers, or a subset of customers representing a significant percentage of contract volume in a particular product line; or are unable to attract new customers, our business and revenues will be adversely affected. The shortfall in customer segregated funds at MF Global and the misappropriation of customer property at Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. (PFG) may have an impact on the overall confidence in the futures markets, which could have a negative impact on contract volume. Furthermore, declines in contract volume due to loss of customers may negatively impact market liquidity, which could lead to further loss of contract volume.

As a financial services provider, we are subject to significant litigation risk and potential securities law liability.

Many aspects of our business involve substantial litigation risks. While we generally are protected by our rules limiting liability for system failures and certain forms of negligence and by statutory limits on private causes of actions in cases where we have not behaved in bad faith, we could be exposed to substantial liability under federal and state laws and court decisions, as well as rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC and the CFTC. These risks include, among others, potential liability from disputes over terms of a trade, the claim that a system failure or delay caused monetary losses to a customer, that we entered into an unauthorized transaction or that we provided materially false or misleading statements in connection with a transaction. Dissatisfied customers frequently make claims regarding quality of trade execution, improperly settled trades, mismanagement or even fraud against their service providers. We may become subject to these claims as a result of failures or malfunctions of our systems and services we provide. For example, we served as the designated self regulatory organization for MF Global. There are ongoing investigations by the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CFTC, and the SEC into the events surrounding the MF Global bankruptcy, including determining which individuals and entities may have civil or criminal liability for the shortfall. We continue to believe that we acted appropriately and that our actions do not give rise to liability. We have been named as a party to a number of lawsuits in connection with the MF Global matter, which have been consolidated. There is no guarantee that we will not become the subject of additional litigation relating to the matter or that we will be successful in defending against these claims or any other action relating to MF Global or any matter brought in the future. We could incur significant legal expenses defending claims, even those without merit. In addition, an adverse resolution of any future lawsuit or claim against us could have a material adverse effect on our business and our reputation.

Table of Contents

Our role in the global marketplace may place us at greater risk than other companies for a cyber attack and other cyber security risks. Our networks and those of our third party service providers may be vulnerable to security risks, which could result in wrongful use of our information or cause interruptions in our operations that cause us to lose customers and contract volume and result in significant liabilities. We could also be required to incur significant expense to protect our systems.

We regard the secure transmission of confidential information and the ability to continuously transact and clear on our electronic trading platforms as critical elements of our operations. Our networks and those of our third-party service providers and our customers may be vulnerable to unauthorized access, fraud, computer viruses, denial of service attacks, terrorism, firewall or encryption failures and other security problems. Recently, groups have targeted the financial services industry as part of their protest against the perceived lack of regulation of the financial sector and economic inequality, including calls to their supporters to launch cyber attacks on numerous financial institutions, which in some cases have resulted in brief outages to their external corporate web sites. Our role in the global marketplace may place us at greater risk than other public companies for a cyber attack and other information security risks.

Additionally, our role as a leading derivatives marketplace and the operation of our CME Globex electronic trading platform may place us at greater risk for misappropriation of our intellectual property. For example, in 2012, a former employee of CME Group plead guilty to theft of our trade secrets. While we do not believe that any customer information, trade data or required regulatory information was compromised in this incident and we have no evidence that the trade secrets were distributed in connection with this matter, we cannot assure you that we will not be the subject of future malfeasance. Other persons who circumvent security measures could wrongfully use our information or cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations.

Although we have not been the victim of cyber attacks or other cyber incidents that have had a material impact on our operations or financial condition, we have from time to time experienced cyber security breaches such as computer viruses and similar information technology violations that are typical for a company of our size that operates in the global financial marketplace. As part of our global information security program, we employ resources to monitor the environment and protect our infrastructure against such cyber attacks and the potential misappropriation of our intellectual property assets. However, these measures may prove insufficient depending upon the attack or threat posed, which could result in system failures and delays that could cause us to lose customers, experience lower contract volume, incur significant liabilities or have a negative impact on our competitive advantage.

We may be at greater risk from terrorism than other companies.

We may be more likely than other companies to be a direct target of, or an indirect casualty of, attacks by terrorists or terrorist organizations. It is impossible to accurately predict the likelihood or impact of any terrorist attack on the derivatives industry generally or on our business. While we have undertaken significant measures to develop business continuity plans and to establish backup sites, in the event of an attack or a threat of an attack, these security measures and contingency plans may be inadequate to prevent significant disruptions in our business, technology or access to the infrastructure necessary to maintain our business. Such attack may result in the closure of our trading and clearing facilities or render our backup data and recovery systems inoperable. Damage to our facilities due to terrorist attacks may be significantly in excess of any amount of insurance received, or we may not be able to insure against such damage at a reasonable price or at all. The threat of terrorist attacks may also negatively affect our ability to attract and retain employees. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

RISKS RELATING TO OUR BUSINESS

The success of our markets will depend on our ability to complete development of, successfully implement and maintain the electronic trading systems that have the functionality, performance, reliability and speed required by our customers.

The future success of our business depends in large part on our ability to create interactive electronic marketplaces in a wide range of derivatives products that have the required functionality, performance, capacity, reliability and speed to attract and retain customers. A significant portion of our overall volume is generated through electronic trading on our CME Globex electronic platform.

We must continue to enhance our electronic trading platform to remain competitive. As a result, we will continue to be subject to risks, expenses and uncertainties encountered in the rapidly evolving market for electronic transaction services. These risks include our failure or inability to:


•	provide reliable and cost-effective services to our customers;


•	develop, in a timely manner, the required functionality to support electronic trading in our key products in a manner that is competitive with the functionality supported by other electronic markets;


•	match fees of our competitors that offer only electronic trading facilities;

Table of Contents


•	attract independent software vendors to write front-end software that will effectively access our electronic trading system and automated order routing system;


•	respond to technological developments or service offerings by competitors; and


•	generate sufficient revenue to justify the substantial capital investment we have made and will continue to make to enhance our electronic trading platform.

If we do not successfully enhance our electronic trading platform, or our current or potential customers do not accept it, our revenues and profits will be adversely affected. Additionally, we rely on our customers' ability to have the necessary back office functionality to support our new products and our trading and clearing functionality. To the extent our customers are not prepared and/or lack the resources or infrastructure, the success of our new initiatives may be compromised.

In addition, if we are unable to develop our electronic trading systems to include other products and markets, or if our electronic trading systems do not have the required functionality, performance, capacity, reliability and speed, we may not be able to compete successfully in an environment that is increasingly dominated by electronic trading.

If we experience systems failures or capacity constraints, our ability to conduct our operations and execute our business strategy could be materially harmed and we could be subjected to significant costs and liabilities.

We are heavily dependent on the capacity, reliability and security of the computer and communications systems and software supporting our operations. We receive and/or process a large portion of our trade orders through electronic means, such as through public and private communications networks. Our systems, or those of our third party providers, may fail or operate slowly, causing one or more of the following to occur:


•	unanticipated disruptions in service to our customers;


•	slower response times;


•	delays in our customers' trade execution;


•	failed settlement of trades;


•	incomplete or inaccurate accounting, recording or processing of trades;


•	financial losses;


•	security breaches;


•	litigation or other customer claims;


•	loss of customers; and


•	regulatory sanctions.

We cannot assure you that we will not experience systems failures from power or telecommunications failure, acts of God, war or terrorism, human error, natural disasters, fire, sabotage, hardware or software malfunctions or defects, computer viruses, acts of vandalism or similar occurrences. If any of our systems do not operate properly or are disabled, including as a result of system failure, employee or customer error or misuse of our systems, we could suffer financial loss, liability to customers, regulatory intervention or reputational damage that could affect demand by current and potential users of our market. For example, our co-location facility hosts a significant portion of our customers' infrastructure. While we have undertaken measures to secure such facility and to implement disaster recovery measures, if we were to experience an outage at such location it could have a significant impact on our revenues and reputation.

From time to time, we have experienced system errors and failures that have resulted in some customers being unable to connect to our electronic trading platform, or that resulted in erroneous reporting, such as transactions that were not authorized by any customer or reporting of filled orders as canceled. Such errors may result in CME Group being liable or in our voluntary assumption of financial liability. We cannot assure you that if we experience system errors or failures in the future that they will not have a material adverse impact on our business. Any such system failures that cause an interruption in service or decrease our responsiveness could impair our reputation, damage our brand name or have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our status as a CFTC registrant generally requires that our trade execution and communications systems be able to handle anticipated present and future peak contract volume. Heavy use of our computer systems during peak trading times or at times of unusual market volatility could cause our systems to operate slowly or even to fail for periods of time. We constantly monitor system loads and performance, and regularly implement system upgrades to handle estimated increases in contract volume. However, we cannot assure you that our estimates of future contract volume and order messaging traffic will be accurate or that our systems will always be able to accommodate actual contract volume and order messaging traffic without

Table of Contents

failure or degradation of performance. Increased CME Globex contract volume and order messaging traffic may result in connectivity problems or erroneous reports that may affect users of the platform. System failure or degradation could lead our customers to file formal complaints with industry regulatory organizations, to file lawsuits against us or to cease doing business with us, or could lead the CFTC or other regulators to initiate inquiries or proceedings for failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

We will need to continue to upgrade, expand and increase the capacity of our systems as our business grows and we execute our business strategy. Generally, our goal is to design our systems to handle two times our peak historical transactions in our highest volume products. As volumes of transactions grow, the ability of our systems to meet this goal on an ongoing basis depends on our ability to increase our system capacity on a timely basis while maintaining system reliability. Although many of our systems are designed to accommodate additional volume and products and services without redesign or replacement, we will need to continue to make significant investments in additional hardware and software to accommodate the increases in volume of transactions and order transaction traffic and to provide processing services to third parties. If we cannot increase the capacity and capabilities of our systems to accommodate an increasing volume of transactions and to execute our business strategy, our ability to maintain or expand our businesses would be adversely affected.

We, as well as many of our customers, depend on third party suppliers and service providers for a number of services that are important. An interruption or cessation of an important supply or service by any third party could have a material adverse effect on our business, including revenues derived from our customers' trading activity.

We depend on a number of suppliers, such as banking, clearing and settlement organizations, telephone companies, on-line service providers, data processors, and software and hardware vendors, for elements of our trading, clearing and other systems, as well as communications and networking equipment, computer hardware and software and related support and maintenance.

Many of our customers rely on third parties, such as independent software vendors, to provide them with front-end systems to access our CME Globex platform and other back office systems for their trade processing and risk management needs. While these service providers have undertaken to keep current with our enhancements and changes to our interfaces and functionality, we cannot guarantee that they will continue to make the necessary monetary and time investments to keep up with our changes.

To the extent any of our service providers or the organizations that provide services to our customers in connection with their trading activities cease to provide these services in an efficient, cost-effective manner or fail to adequately expand their services to meet our needs and the needs of our customers, we could experience decreased contract volume, lower revenues and higher costs.

Our clearing house operations expose us to substantial credit risk of third parties and the level of soundness of our clearing firms could adversely affect us.

Our clearing house operations expose us to many different industries and counterparties, and we routinely guarantee transactions with counterparties in the financial industry, including brokers and dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, mutual and hedge funds, and other institutional customers. Over the last few years, the global financial markets have experienced significant uncertainty and negative conditions as a result of the continued financial crisis that began in 2008. As a result, many of our customers have encountered credit limitations, losses resulting from lower asset values, consolidations, legislative changes and reduced liquidity. We could be adversely impacted by the financial distress or failure of one of our clearing firms.

As part of our overall growth initiatives, we have expanded our clearing services to the over-the-counter market in addition to standard futures and options on futures products, including products offered for clearing through CME ClearPort and our credit default swap and interest rate swap clearing initiatives. The process for setting margins and establishing other financial safeguards for over-the-counter products is different and, in part, seeks to assess and capture different risks than our historical practices applied to our futures and options on futures products. Although we believe that we have carefully analyzed the process for setting margins and our other financial safeguards for over-the-counter products, there is no guarantee that our procedures will adequately protect market participants from the unique risks of these products or ensure that our financial safeguards will suffice to cover clearing member defaults in extreme circumstances.

In 2011, CME Clearing Europe was launched. While we have hired experienced management to oversee the operations of CME Clearing Europe, as an organization we have limited experience operating a clearing house outside of the United States.

A substantial part of our working capital may be at risk if a clearing firm defaults on its obligations to the clearing house and its margin and guaranty fund deposits are insufficient to meet its obligations. Although we have policies and procedures to help ensure that our clearing firms can satisfy their obligations, these policies and procedures may not succeed in detecting problems or preventing defaults. We also have in place various measures intended to enable us to cure any default and maintain liquidity. However, we cannot assure you that these measures will be sufficient to protect market participants from a default or that we will not be adversely affected in the event of a significant default. In addition, we have established a $100 million fund designed to provide payments, up to certain maximum levels, to family farmers, ranchers and other agricultural industry

Table of Contents

participants who use our products and who suffer losses to their segregated account balances when their clearing firm member becomes insolvent.

The required capital and posted collateral of our clearing firms may lose value given the volatility of the market.

To become a clearing member, a firm must meet certain minimum capital requirements and must deposit a certain amount of funds to meet performance bond and guaranty fund requirements with our clearing house as collateral for its trading activity. We accept a variety of collateral to satisfy these requirements, including cash, regulated money market mutual funds, U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. Government Agency securities, letters of credit, gold, equities and foreign sovereign debt, and subject them to established haircuts based on the type of collateral and maturity. Given the level of market volatility, there is no guarantee that these investments will continue to maintain their value. To the extent a clearing firm was not in compliance with these requirements, it would be required to acquire additional funds, decrease its proprietary trading activity and/or transfer customer accounts to another clearing firm. These actions could result in a decrease in trading activity in our products.

Intellectual property rights licensed from third party price reporting agencies form the basis for many of our products from which we derive a significant portion of our volume and revenue. Recent regulatory scrutiny into such benchmarks could have a negative impact on our ability to offer such products.

We are significantly dependent on the contract volume of products which are based on intellectual property rights of indexes derived from third party price reporting agencies, including our benchmark Eurodollar contract which is based on LIBOR. To comply with CFTC core principles, we must be able to demonstrate that our products may not be readily subject to manipulation. Following the well-publicized issues relating to the credibility of LIBOR, there has been heightened scrutiny surrounding the integrity and potential manipulation of LIBOR and other benchmarks which are derived from price reporting agencies. Our inability to offer products based on these indexes could have a negative impact on our contract volume and revenues.

Our market data revenues may be reduced or eliminated by decreased demand, overall economic conditions or the growth of electronic trading and electronic order entry systems. If we are unable to offset that reduction through terminal usage fees or transaction fees, we will experience a reduction in revenues.

We sell our market data to individuals and organizations that use our markets or monitor general economic conditions. Excluding our index market data offerings, revenues from our market data and information services represented 12% and 10% of our total revenues, during the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. A decrease in overall contract volume may also lead to a decreased demand for our market data from the market data vendors. For example, in both 2012 and 2011, we experienced a decrease in the average number of market data devices due to the continued economic uncertainty, continued high unemployment levels in the financial services sector and aggressive cost cutting initiatives at customer firms. Additionally, electronic trading systems do not usually impose separate exchange fees for supplying market data to trading terminals. If we do not separately charge for market data supplied to trading terminals, and trading terminals with access to our markets become widely available, we could lose market data fees from those who have access to trading terminals. We will experience a reduction in our revenues if we are unable to recover that lost market data revenue through terminal usage fees or transaction fees.

We may have difficulty executing our growth strategy and maintaining our growth effectively.

We continue to focus on strategic initiatives to grow our business, including our efforts to serve the over-the-counter market as discussed in the following risk factor and to distribute our products and services on a global basis. There is no guarantee that our efforts will be successful. Continued growth will require additional investment in personnel, facilities, information technology infrastructure and financial and management systems and controls and may place a significant strain on our management and resources. For example, if we encounter limited resources, we may be required to increase our expenses to obtain the necessary resources, defer existing initiatives or not pursue certain opportunities. We may not be successful in implementing all of the processes that are necessary to support our growth organically or, as described below, through acquisitions, investments or other strategic alliances. Unless our growth results in an increase in our revenues that is proportionate to the increase in our costs associated with our growth, our future profitability could be adversely affected, and we may have to incur significant expenditures to address the additional operational and control requirements as a result of our growth.

There is no guarantee that our over-the-counter initiatives will be successful.

Our goal is to provide a comprehensive multi-asset class clearing solution to the market for maximum operational ease and the capital efficiency that comes with connecting to a single clearing house. We offer clearing services for cleared over-the-counter derivatives, including credit default swaps and interest rate swaps. Our strategy also includes extending our over-the-counter services into other assets classes, as well as enhancing our CME ClearPort functionality to support additional products. While we believe the implementation of Dodd-Frank creates new opportunities for us to expand our over-the-counter offerings, the current regulatory environment for trading and clearing these products remains uncertain. We cannot be certain that we will be

Table of Contents

able to operate profitably under the new legislation. For example, provisions within Dodd-Frank include changes to the CFTC's core principles, specifically Core Principal 9, which could require us to make modifications to the manner in which certain of our contracts trade and/or require that such products be de-listed as futures and re-listed as swaps. In addition, a number of market participants and exchanges have developed competing platforms and products, including ICE's offering for credit default swaps. We cannot be certain that we will be able to compete effectively or that our initiatives will be successful.

We intend to continue to explore acquisitions, investments and other strategic alliances. We may not be successful in identifying opportunities or in integrating the acquired businesses. Any such transaction may not produce the results we anticipate, which could adversely affect our business and our stock price.

We intend to continue to explore and pursue acquisitions and other strategic opportunities to strengthen our business and grow our company. We may make acquisitions or investments or enter into strategic partnerships, joint ventures and other alliances. The market for such transactions is highly competitive, especially in light of the increasing consolidation in our industry. As a result, we may be unable to identify strategic opportunities or we may be unable to negotiate or finance future transactions on terms favorable to us. To the extent the trend of consolidation in our industry continues, we may encounter increased difficulties in identifying growth opportunities. We may finance future transactions by issuing additional equity and/or debt. The issuance of additional equity in connection with any future transaction could be substantially dilutive to our existing shareholders. The issuance of additional debt could increase our leverage substantially. The process of integration may also produce unforeseen regulatory and operating difficulties and expenditures and may divert the attention of management from the ongoing operation of our business. To the extent we enter into joint ventures and alliances, we may experience difficulties in the development and expansion of the business of any newly formed ventures, in the exercise of influence over the activities of any ventures in which we do not have a controlling interest, as well as encounter potential conflicts with our joint venture or alliance partners. We may not realize the anticipated growth and other benefits from strategic growth initiatives we have made or will make in the future, which may have an adverse impact on our financial condition and operating results. We may also be required to take an impairment charge in our financial statements relating to our acquisitions and/or investments, which could negatively impact our stock price.

Expansion of our operations internationally involves special challenges that we may not be able to meet, which could adversely affect our financial results.

We plan to continue to expand our operations internationally, including through CME Clearing Europe, our proposed UK exchange, directly placing order entry terminals with customers outside the United States and by relying on distribution systems established by our current and future strategic alliance partners. We face certain risks inherent in doing business in international markets, particularly in the regulated derivatives exchange business. These risks include:


•	restrictions on the use of trading terminals or the contracts that may be traded;


•	becoming subject to extensive regulations and oversight, tariffs and other trade barriers;


•	difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations;


•	general economic and political conditions in the countries from which our markets are accessed, which may have an adverse effect on our volume from those countries; and


•	potentially adverse tax consequences.

In addition, as a result of our expanding global operations, we are subject to the laws and regulations of foreign governmental and regulatory authorities, including the FSA in connection with CME Clearing Europe, our marketing efforts in Europe and our proposed UK exchange. These may include laws, rules and regulations relating to any aspect of the derivatives business. To date, we have had limited experience in marketing and operating our products and services internationally. We cannot assure you that we will be able to succeed in marketing our products and services in international markets. We may also experience difficulty in managing our international operations because of, among other things, competitive conditions overseas, management of foreign exchange risk, established domestic markets, language and cultural differences and economic or political instability. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on the success of our international operations and, consequently, on our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our compliance and risk management methods might not be effective and may result in outcomes that could adversely affect our reputation, financial condition and operating results.

In the normal course of our business, we discuss matters with our regulators raised during regulatory examinations or we may otherwise become subject to their inquiry and oversight. The CFTC has broad enforcement powers to censure, fine, issue cease-and-desist orders, prohibit us from engaging in some of our businesses or suspend or revoke our designation as a contract market or the registration of any of our officers or employees who violate applicable laws or regulations. Our ability to comply with applicable laws and rules is largely dependent on our establishment and maintenance of compliance, review and reporting systems, as well as our ability to attract and retain qualified compliance and other risk management personnel. We face the risk

Table of Contents

of significant intervention by regulatory authorities, including extensive examination and surveillance activity. In the case of non-compliance or alleged non-compliance with applicable laws or regulations, we could be subject to investigations and judicial or administrative proceedings that may result in substantial penalties or civil lawsuits, including by customers, for damages, which could be significant. Any of these outcomes may adversely affect our reputation, financial condition and operating results. In extreme cases, these outcomes could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business. In February 2013, the CFTC filed suit against NYMEX and two former employees alleging disclosure of confidential customer information in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act. Based on our initial review of the complaint, we believe that we have strong factual and legal defenses to the claim.

Our policies and procedures to identify, monitor and manage our risks may not be fully effective. Some of our risk management methods depend upon evaluation of information regarding markets, customers or other matters that are publicly available or otherwise accessible by us. That information may not in all cases be accurate, complete, up-to-date or properly evaluated. Management of operational, financial, legal, regulatory and strategic risk requires, among other things, policies and procedures to record properly and verify a large number of transactions and events. We cannot assure you that our policies and procedures will always be effective or that we will always be successful in monitoring or evaluating the risks to which we are or may be exposed.

We could be harmed by misconduct or errors that are difficult to detect and deter.

There have been a number of highly publicized cases involving fraud or other misconduct by employees of financial services firms in recent years. Misconduct by our employees and agents, including employees of GFX, our wholly-owned subsidiary that engages primarily in proprietary trading in foreign exchange futures to generate liquidity, could include hiding unauthorized activities from us, improper or unauthorized activities on behalf of customers or improper use or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. Misconduct could subject us to financial losses or regulatory sanctions and seriously harm our reputation. It is not always possible to deter misconduct, and the precautions we take to prevent and detect this activity may not be effective in all cases. Our employees and agents also may commit errors that could subject us to financial claims for negligence, as well as regulatory actions, or result in our voluntary assumption of financial liability.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights, which may materially harm our business.

We own the rights to a large number of trademarks, service marks, domain names and trade names in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world. We have registered many of our most important trademarks in the United States and other countries. We hold the rights to a number of patents and have made a number of patent applications. Our patents cover match engine, trader user interface, trading floor support, market data, general technology and clearing house functionalities. We attempt to protect our intellectual property rights by relying on trademarks, copyright, database rights, trade secrets, restrictions on disclosure and other methods. Notwithstanding the precautions we take to protect our intellectual property rights, it is possible that third parties may copy or otherwise obtain and use our proprietary technology without authorization or otherwise infringe on our rights. For example, in 2012 a former employee of CME Group plead guilty to theft of our trade secrets. In addition, in the future, we may have to rely on litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets, determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others or defend against claims of infringement or invalidity. Any such litigation, whether successful or unsuccessful, could result in substantial costs to us and diversions of our resources, either of which could adversely affect our business.

Any infringement by us on patent rights of others could result in litigation and adversely affect our ability to continue to provide, or increase the cost of providing, our products and electronic execution services.

Patents of third parties may have an important bearing on our ability to offer certain of our products and services. Our competitors as well as other companies and individuals may obtain, and may be expected to obtain in the future, patents related to the types of products and services we offer or plan to offer. We cannot assure you that we are or will be aware of all patents containing claims that may pose a risk of infringement by our products and services. In addition, some patent applications in the United States are confidential until a patent is issued and, therefore, we cannot evaluate the extent to which our products and services may be covered or asserted to be covered by claims contained in pending patent applications. These claims of infringement are not uncommon in our industry.

In general, if one or more of our products or services were to infringe on patents held by others, we may be required to stop developing or marketing the products or services, to obtain licenses to develop and market the services from the holders of the patents or to redesign the products or services in such a way as to avoid infringing on the patent claims. We cannot assess the extent to which we may be required in the future to obtain licenses with respect to patents held by others, whether such licenses would be available or, if available, whether we would be able to obtain such licenses on commercially reasonable terms. If we were unable to obtain such licenses, we may not be able to redesign our products or services to avoid infringement, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Table of Contents

RISKS RELATING TO AN INVESTMENT IN OUR CLASS A COMMON STOCK

Our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition and operations and prevent us from fulfilling our debt service obligations. We may still be able to incur more debt, intensifying these risks.

As of December 31, 2012, we had approximately $2.9 billion of total indebtedness and we had excess borrowing capacity for general corporate purposes under our existing facilities of approximately $1.8 billion.

Our indebtedness could have important consequences. For example, our indebtedness may:


•	require us to dedicate a significant portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our debt, thereby reducing the availability of cash flows to fund capital expenditures, to pursue acquisitions or investments, to pay dividends and for general corporate purposes;


•	increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic conditions;


•	limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in or challenges relating to our business and industry; and


•	place us at a competitive disadvantage against any less leveraged competitors.

The occurrence of any one of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations. In addition, the agreements governing our outstanding indebtedness do not significantly limit our ability to incur additional indebtedness, which could increase the risks described above to the extent that we incur additional debt. Our exchanges and clearing house are also required to maintain capital as defined by the CFTC at least equal to six months of their applicable operating expenses.

Any reduction in our credit rating could increase the cost of our funding from the capital markets.

Our long-term debt is currently rated investment grade by two of the major rating agencies. These rating agencies regularly evaluate us. Their ratings of our long-term debt are based on a number of factors, including our financial strength as well as factors not entirely within our control, such as conditions affecting the financial services industry generally. In February 2012, S&P lowered our rating to AA- with a negative outlook from AA with a negative outlook. The ratings action stemmed from the newly provided protection we extended to trading customers of defaulted clearing member firms. The continued negative outlook reflects S&P's view of the potential legal and reputational fall-out from the MF Global bankruptcy. In light of the difficulties in the financial services industry and the financial markets over the last few years, there can be no assurance that we will maintain our current ratings. Our failure to maintain those ratings could adversely affect the cost and other terms upon which we are able to obtain funding and increase our cost of capital.

Our investment in BM&FBOVESPA subjects us to investment and currency risk.

We own an interest in BM&FBOVESPA representing approximately 5% of its outstanding shares, which had a fair value of $690.6 million as of December 31, 2012. As an exchange, its ability to maintain or expand its contract volume and operate its business is subject to the same types of risks to which we are subject. Additionally, its stock is valued in Brazilian real, which subjects us to currency risk. There is no guarantee that our investment in BM&FBOVESPA will be profitable.

Any impairment of our goodwill and other intangible assets or investments may result in material, non-cash writedowns and could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and shareholders' equity.

In connection with our acquisitions and investments, including our mergers with CBOT Holdings and NYMEX Holdings, we have recorded goodwill and identifiable intangible assets. We assess goodwill and intangible assets for impairment by applying a fair value test looking at historical performance, capital requirements and projected cash flows on an annual basis or more frequently if indicators of impairment arise. In the past, we have recorded impairment charges in connection with some of our investments, including our investment in BM&FBOVESPA. We may continue to experience future events that result in impairments. The risk of impairment losses may increase to the extent our market capitalization and earnings decline. An impairment of the value of our existing goodwill and intangible assets could have a significant negative impact on our future operating results and could have an adverse impact on our ability to satisfy the financial ratios or other covenants under our existing or future debt agreements.

Our quarterly operating results fluctuate due to seasonality. As a result, you will not be able to rely on our operating results in any particular quarter as an indication of our future performance.

We have historically experienced relatively higher contract volume during the first and second quarters and sequentially lower contract volume in the third and fourth quarters. As a result of this seasonality, you will not be able to rely on our operating results in any particular period as an indication of our future performance. If we fail to meet securities analysts' expectations regarding our operating results, the price of our Class A common stock could decline substantially.

Table of Contents

Our average rate per contract is subject to fluctuation due to a number of factors. As a result, you will not be able to rely on our average rate per contract in any particular period as an indication of our future average rate per contract.

Our average rate per contract, which impacts our operating results, is subject to fluctuation due to shifts in the mix of products traded, the trading venue and the mix of customers (whether the customer receives member or non-member fees or participates in one of our various incentive programs) and the impact of our tiered pricing structure. For example, we earn a higher rate per contract for trades executed electronically than for trades executed on the trading floor. In addition, our members and participants in our various incentive programs generally are charged lower fees than our non-member customers. Variation in each of these factors is difficult to predict and will have an impact on our average rate per contract in the particular period. Because of this fluctuation, you may not be able to rely on our average rate per contract in any particular period as an indication of our future average rate per contract. If we fail to meet securities analysts' expectations regarding our operating results, the price of our Class A common stock could decline substantially.

Our cost structure is largely fixed. If our revenues decline and we are unable to reduce our costs, our profitability will be adversely affected.

Our cost structure is largely fixed. We base our cost structure on historical and expected levels of demand for our products and services. If demand for our products and services and our resulting revenues decline, we may not be able to adjust our cost structure on a timely basis. In that event, our profitability will be adversely affected.

Eighteen of our board members own trading rights or are officers or directors of firms who own trading rights on our exchanges. As members, these individuals may have interests that differ from or conflict with those of shareholders who are not also members. Our dependence on the trading and clearing activities of our members, combined with their rights to elect directors, may enable them to exert substantial influence over the operation of our business.

Eighteen of our directors own or are officers or directors of firms that own trading rights on our exchanges. We are dependent on the revenues from the trading and clearing activities of our members. In 2012, 79% of our contract volume was derived from our members. This dependence may give them substantial influence over how we operate our business.

Many of our members and clearing firms derive a substantial portion of their income from their trading or clearing activities on or through our exchanges. In addition, trading rights on our exchanges have substantial independent value. The amount of income that members derive from their trading, brokering and clearing activities and the value of their trading rights are, in part, dependent on the fees they are charged to trade, broker, clear and access our markets, and the rules and structure of our markets. As a result, holders of our Class A common stock may not have the same economic interests as our members. In addition, our members may have differing interests among themselves depending on the roles they serve in our markets, their method of trading and the products they trade. Consequently, members may advocate that we enhance and protect their clearing and trading opportunities and the value of their trading privileges over their investment in our Class A common stock, if any.

Our members and permit holders have been granted special rights, which protect their trading privileges, require that we maintain open outcry trading until volumes are not significant and, in the case of our Class B shareholders, provide them with special board representation.

Under the terms of the organizational documents of our exchanges and in connection with our agreement to acquire KCBT, our members and permit holders have certain rights that relate primarily to trading right protections, certain trading fee protections and certain membership benefit protections. Additionally, our Class B shareholders, who are members of our CME exchange, are also entitled to elect six directors to our board; even if their Class A share ownership interest is very small or non-existent. In connection with these rights, our ability to take certain actions that we may deem to be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders, including actions relating to the operation of our open outcry trading facilities and certain pricing decisions, may be limited by the rights of our members.


ITEM 1B.	UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not applicable.

Table of Contents


ITEM 2.	PROPERTIES

Our global headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois, at 20 South Wacker Drive. The following is a description of our key locations and facilities.



Location	Primary Use	Owned/Leased	Lease Expiration	Approximate Size (in square feet)⁽¹⁾
20 South Wacker Drive Chicago, Illinois	Global headquarters and office space	Leased	2022⁽²⁾	490,000
141 West Jackson Chicago, Illinois	Chicago trading floor and office space	Leased	2027⁽³⁾	150,000
333 S. LaSalle Chicago, Illinois	Chicago trading floor and office space	Owned	N/A	300,000
550 West Washington Chicago, Illinois	Office space	Leased	2023	250,000
One North End New York, New York	New York trading floor and office space	Mixed⁽⁴⁾	2069	500,000	(5)
One New Change London	Office space	Leased	2026	40,000
Annex Data Center Chicagoland area	Business continuity	Leased	2019	100,000
Remote Data Center Chicagoland area	Business continuity	Leased	2017	50,000
Data Center 3 Chicagoland area	Business continuity and co-location	Owned	N/A	430,000
4800 Main Street Kansas City, Missouri	Kansas City trading floor and office space	Mixed⁽⁶⁾	N/A	166,000


(1)	Size represents the amount of space leased or owned by us unless otherwise noted.


(2)	The initial lease expires in 2022 with two consecutive options to extend the term for seven and ten years, respectively.


(3)	The initial lease expires in 2027 and contains options to extend the term and expand the premises.


(4)	The One North End property is subject to a ground lease with the Battery Park City Authority for the site of our New York offices and trading facility. In accordance with the terms of the lease, we are deemed to lease the building and its improvements from the landlord. We do not make lease payments to the landlord related to the building and we receive the financial benefit of the rental income.


(5)	We occupy approximately 350,000 square feet of the One North End Building.


(6)	This property is owned by Board of Trade Investment Company (BOTIC). KCBT maintains a 51% controlling interest in BOTIC.

We also lease other office space around the world and have also partnered with major global telecommunications carriers in connection with our telecommunications hubs whereby we place data cabinets within the carriers’ existing secured data centers. We believe our facilities are adequate for our current operations and that additional space can be obtained if needed.


ITEM 3.	LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

See “Legal and Regulatory Matters” in Note 14. Contingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements beginning on page 84 for CME Group’s legal proceedings disclosure which is incorporated herein by reference.

Table of Contents


ITEM 4.	MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

PART II


ITEM 5.	MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Class A Common Stock

Our Class A common stock is currently listed on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “CME.” As of February 13, 2013, there were approximately 3,106 holders of record of our Class A common stock.

In May 2012, the company's board of directors declared a five-for-one split of its Class A common stock effected by way of a stock dividend to its Class A and Class B shareholders. The stock split was effective July 20, 2012 for all shareholders of record on July 10, 2012. As a result of the stock split, all amounts related to shares and per share amounts have been retroactively restated.

The following table sets forth the high and low sales prices per share of our Class A common stock on a quarterly basis, as reported on NASDAQ.



2012	High		Low		2011	High		Low
First Quarter	$	59.73	$	45.20	First Quarter	$	63.40	$	56.06
Second Quarter	58.24		50.70		Second Quarter	62.15		52.45
Third Quarter	59.35		49.83		Third Quarter	59.80		47.43
Fourth Quarter	57.89		50.12		Fourth Quarter	59.73		45.20

Class B Common Stock

Our Class B common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange or traded in an organized over-the-counter market. Each class of our Class B common stock is associated with a membership in a specific division of our CME exchange. CME's rules provide exchange members with trading rights and the ability to use or lease these trading rights. Each share of our Class B common stock can be transferred only in connection with the transfer of the associated trading rights.

Class B shares and the associated trading rights are bought and sold or leased through our shareholder relations and membership services department. Although our Class B shareholders have special voting rights, because our Class B shares have the same equitable interest in our earnings and the same dividend payments as our Class A shares, we expect that the market price of our Class B common stock, if reported separately from the associated trading rights, would be determined by the value of our Class A common stock. As of February 13, 2013, there were approximately 1,697 holders of record of our Class B common stock.

Dividends

The following table sets forth the dividends we paid on our Class A and Class B common stock in the last two years:



Record Date	Dividend per Share		Record Date	Dividend per Share
March 10, 2012	$	0.45	March 10, 2011	$	0.28
March 10, 2012	0.60		June 10, 2011	0.28
June 10, 2012	0.45		September 10, 2011	0.28
September 10, 2012	0.45		December 10, 2011	0.28
December 10, 2012	0.45
December 17, 2012	1.30

We intend to continue to pay a regular quarterly dividend to our shareholders according to our annual dividend policy, which remains at approximately 50% of the prior year's cash earnings. The decision to declare a dividend, however, remains within the discretion of our board of directors and may be affected by various factors, including our future earnings, financial condition, capital requirements, levels of indebtedness and other considerations our board of directors deems relevant. On January 30, 2013, the board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share. The dividend will be payable on March 25, 2013, to shareholders of record on March 8, 2013. Assuming no changes in the number of shares outstanding, the

Table of Contents

total first quarter dividend payment will be approximately $149.3 million. The board of directors declared an annual variable dividend of $1.30 per share on December 5, 2012 and was payable on December 28, 2012 to the shareholders of record on December 17, 2012. In general, the amount of the annual variable dividend will be determined after the end of each year, and the level will increase or decrease from year to year based on operating results, potential merger and acquisition activity, and other forms of capital return including regular dividends and share buybacks during the prior year. The annual variable dividend for 2013 was accelerated to the fourth quarter of 2012 due to uncertainty surrounding dividend income tax treatment beginning in 2013.

The indentures governing our fixed rate notes, our 364-day clearing house credit facility for $5.0 billion and our $1.8 billion multi-currency revolving senior credit facility, do not contain specific covenants that restrict the ability to pay dividends. These documents, however, do contain other customary financial and operating covenants that place restrictions on the operations of the company, which could indirectly affect the ability to pay dividends.

For example, under our senior credit facility, we are required to remain in compliance with a consolidated net worth test, defined as our consolidated shareholders’ equity as of September 30, 2012 after giving effect to actual share repurchases made and special dividends paid (including annual variable dividends), but only up to the amount of such repurchases and dividends publicly announced and made or paid after September 30, 2012 (and in no event greater than $2.0 billion in the aggregate for such repurchases and dividends during the term of the agreement), multiplied by 0.65. In addition, our 364-day clearing house credit facility contains a requirement that CME remain in compliance with a consolidated tangible net worth test, defined as consolidated shareholder’s equity less intangible assets (as defined in the agreement), of not less than $625.0 million.

CME Group, as a holding company, has no operations of its own. Instead, it relies on dividends declared and paid to it by its subsidiaries, including CME, in order to provide a portion of the funds which it uses to pay dividends to its shareholders.

CME Group and its subsidiaries are also required to comply with restrictions contained in the general corporation laws of their state of incorporation which could also limit its (or their) ability to declare and pay dividends.

Table of Contents

PERFORMANCE GRAPH

The following graph and table compares the cumulative five-year total return provided shareholders on our Class A common stock relative to the cumulative total returns of the S&P 500 index and our customized peer group. The peer group includes CBOE Holdings, Inc., IntercontinentalExchange, Inc., NYSE Euronext and The Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. An investment of $100 (with reinvestment of all dividends) is assumed to have been made in our Class A common stock, in the peer group and the S&P 500 index on December 31, 2007 and its relative performance is tracked through December 31, 2012.

The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance



	2008		2009		2010		2011		2012
CME Group Inc.	$	31.07	$	51.04	$	49.64	$	38.39	$	42.38
S&P 500	63.00		79.67		91.67		93.61		108.59
Peer Group	37.87		39.89		45.92		45.66		50.98

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

On July 16, 2010, in connection with a definitive Share Purchase and Investor Rights Agreement, dated June 22, 2010, we issued to BM&FBOVESPA 11.0 million shares of our Class A common stock at a purchase price per share of $55.02 in cash, or approximately $607.0 million in the aggregate. The shares of our Class A common stock issued in these transactions were unregistered and were issued in reliance on Section 4(2) of the Securities Act.

Table of Contents

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities



Period	(a) Total Number of Shares (or Units) Purchased⁽¹⁾	(b) Average Price Paid Per Share (or Unit)		(c) Total Number of Shares (or Units) Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs	(d) Maximum Number (or Approximate Dollar Value) of Shares (or Units) that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs(in millions)
October 1 to October 31	—	$	—	—	$	—
November 1 to November 30	—	—		—	—
December 1 to December 31	9,375	51.23		—	—
Total	9,375			—

_______________


(1)	Shares purchased consist of an aggregate of 9,375 shares of Class A common stock surrendered to satisfy employee tax obligations upon the vesting of restricted stock.


ITEM 6.	SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

On March 23, 2008, CME Group Inc. (CME Group) acquired Credit Market Analysis Ltd., a private company incorporated in the United Kingdom, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively, CMA). On August 22, 2008, NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYMEX Holdings) merged with CME Group. On March 18, 2010, the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. (CBOT) acquired a 90% ownership interest in CME Group Index Services LLC (Index Services), a business venture with Dow Jones & Company (Dow Jones). In June 2012, the company contributed certain Dow Jones Index assets and liabilities (DJI asset group) owned by Index Services to a new business venture with The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (McGraw) and acquired a 24.4% interest in the new business venture. As part of the transaction with McGraw, the company also sold CMA to McGraw. CBOT acquired The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, Inc. (KCBT), on November 30, 2012.

The following data includes the financial results of CMA from March 24, 2008 through June 30, 2012, the financial results of NYMEX Holdings beginning August 23, 2008 and the financial results of KCBT beginning November 30, 2012. Assets and liabilities contributed or sold as part of the transaction with McGraw are excluded from the following data beginning on June 30, 2012, while the financial results of the company's 24.4% interest in the new business venture with McGraw are included in the following data beginning on June 30, 2012.



	Year Ended or At December 31
(in millions, except per share data)	2012		2011			2010			2009			2008
Income Statement Data:
Total revenues	$	2,914.6	$	3,280.6		$	3,003.7		$	2,612.8		$	2,561.0
Operating income	1,692.0		2,021.1			1,831.1			1,589.1			1,582.2
Non-operating income (expense)	1.4		(84.6		)	(109.2		)	(151.6		)	(334.2		)
Income before income taxes	1,693.4		1,936.5			1,721.9			1,437.5			1,248.0
Net income attributable to CME Group	896.3		1,812.3			951.4			825.8			715.5
Earnings per common share attributable to CME Group:
Basic	$	2.71	$	5.45		$	2.87		$	2.49		$	2.44
Diluted	2.70		5.43			2.86			2.48			2.43
Cash dividends per share	3.70		1.12			0.92			0.92			1.92
Balance Sheet Data:
Total assets	$	38,863.2	$	40,758.7		$	35,046.1		$	35,651.0		$	48,158.7
Short-term debt	749.7		—			420.5			299.8			249.9
Long-term debt	2,106.8		2,106.8			2,104.8			2,014.7			2,966.1
CME Group Shareholders’ equity	21,419.1		21,552.0			20,060.1			19,301.0			18,688.6

Table of Contents

The following table presents key statistical information on the volume of contracts traded, expressed in round turn trades, and notional value of contracts traded. The 2008 volume data includes average daily volume for NYMEX products for the period August 23 through December 31, 2008. The 2012 volume data includes the average daily volume for KCBT products beginning November 30, 2012. All amounts exclude our credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, KCBT, CME Clearing Europe, TRAKRS, and Swapstream contracts.



	Year Ended or At December 31
(in thousands, except notional value)	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008
Average Daily Volume:
Product Lines:
Interest rate	4,834	6,030	5,449	4,260	6,085
Equity	2,560	3,238	2,907	2,916	3,663
Foreign exchange	845	922	919	624	623
Agricultural commodity ⁽¹⁾	1,140	1,087	914	741	848
Energy	1,692	1,775	1,662	1,492	1,348
Metal	352	387	316	225	208
Total Average Daily Volume	11,423	13,439	12,167	10,258	12,775
Method of Trade:
Electronic	9,739	11,350	10,120	8,290	10,180
Open outcry	1,045	1,398	1,402	1,310	1,943
Privately negotiated	221	231	198	164	208
CME ClearPort	418	460	447	494	444
Total Average Daily Volume	11,423	13,439	12,167	10,258	12,775
Other Data:
Total Notional Value (in trillions)	806	1,068	994	813	1,227
Total Contract Volume (round turn trades)	2,890,036	3,386,716	3,078,149	2,584,891	2,978,459
Open Interest at Year End (contracts)	69,894	78,318	84,873	78,102	63,049

(1) Agricultural commodities does not include the agricultural commodity contract volume for KCBT. The average daily volume for KCBT's agricultural commodity contracts was 16,100 for December 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012.

Table of Contents


ITEM 7.	MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is organized as follows:


•	Executive Summary: Includes an overview of our business; current economic, competitive and regulatory trends relevant to our business; our current business strategy; and our primary sources of operating and non-operating revenues and expenses.


•	Critical Accounting Policies: Provides an explanation of accounting policies which may have a significant impact on our financial results and the estimates, assumptions and risks associated with those policies.


•	Recent Accounting Pronouncements: Includes an evaluation of recent accounting pronouncements and the potential impact of their future adoption on our financial results.


•	Results of Operations: Includes an analysis of our 2012, 2011 and 2010 financial results and a discussion of any known events or trends which are likely to impact future results.


•	Liquidity and Capital Resources: Includes a discussion of our future cash requirements, capital resources, significant planned expenditures and financing arrangements.

In March 2010, the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. (CBOT) acquired a 90% ownership interest in CME Group Index Services LLC (Index Services), a business venture with Dow Jones & Company (Dow Jones). The discussion and analysis that follow includes the financial results of Index Services beginning March 19, 2010.

In June 2012, CBOT contributed certain assets and liabilities (DJI asset group) owned by Index Services to S&P/Dow Jones Indices LLC (S&P/DJI), a new business venture with The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (McGraw). In addition, Credit Market Analysis Ltd. (CMA) was sold to McGraw as part of this transaction. The discussion and analysis that follows excludes the assets and liabilities disposed as part of this transaction with McGraw beginning June 30, 2012.

In November 2012, CBOT acquired The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, Inc. (KCBT), including its wholly-owned clearing house, Kansas City Board of Trade Clearing Corporation (KCBTCC) and its 51% controlling interest in Board of Trade Investment Company (BOTIC). The discussion and analysis that follows includes the financial results of KCBT beginning November 30, 2012.

References in this discussion and analysis to “we” and “our” are to CME Group Inc. (CME Group) and its consolidated subsidiaries, collectively. References to “exchange” are to Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME), CBOT and New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX), Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX) and KCBT, collectively, unless otherwise noted.

OVERVIEW

Business Overview

CME Group, a Delaware stock corporation, is the holding company for CME, CBOT, NYMEX and their respective subsidiaries as well as CME Clearing Europe Limited (CMECE). The holding company structure is designed to provide strategic and operational flexibility. CME Group's Class A common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (NASDAQ) under the ticker symbol “CME.”

Our exchange consists of designated contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts. We also clear futures, options on futures and over-the-counter contracts through our three designated clearing organizations: CME Clearing, which is a division of CME, KCBTCC and CMECE. Futures contracts and options on futures contracts provide investors with vehicles for protecting against, and potentially profiting from, price changes in financial instruments and physical commodities.

We are a global exchange with customer access available virtually all over the world. Our customers consist of professional traders, financial institutions, individual and institutional investors, major corporations, manufacturers, producers and governments. Customers include both members of the exchange and non-members.

We offer our customers the opportunity to trade futures contracts and options on futures contracts on a range of products including those based on interest rates, equities, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals. We also clear over-the-counter contracts on a range of product lines including interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, foreign exchange, energy and agricultural commodities.

Our products provide a means for hedging, speculating and allocating assets. We identify new products by monitoring economic trends and their impact on the risk management and speculative needs of our existing and prospective customers.

Table of Contents

Our major product lines are traded through our electronic trading platform and our open outcry trading floors. These execution facilities offer our customers immediate trade execution and price transparency. In addition, trades can be executed through privately negotiated transactions that are cleared and settled through our CME and CMECE clearing houses.

Our clearing houses clear, settle and guarantee every futures and options contract traded through our exchanges, in addition to cleared over-the-counter products. Our clearing house performance guarantee is an important function of our business. Because of this guarantee, our customers do not need to evaluate the credit of each potential counterparty or limit themselves to a selected set of counterparties. This flexibility increases the potential liquidity available for each trade. Additionally, the substitution of our clearing houses as the counterparty to every transaction allows our customers to establish a position with one party and offset the position with another party. This contract offsetting process provides our customers with flexibility in establishing and adjusting positions and provides for collateral and margining efficiencies.

Business Trends

Economic Environment. Our customers continue to use our markets as an effective and transparent means to manage risk and meet their investment needs despite recent economic uncertainty and volatility. In recent years, trading activity in our centralized markets has fluctuated due to the ongoing uncertainty in the financial markets caused by the United States and European credit crises, fluctuations in the availability of credit, variations in the amount of assets under management as well as the Federal Reserve Bank’s continued zero interest rate policy. We continue to maintain high quality and diverse products as well as various clearing and market data services which support our customers in any economic environment.

Competitive Environment. Our industry is highly competitive and we continue to encounter competition in all aspects of our business. We expect competition to continue to intensify, especially in light of recent regulatory reforms in the financial services industry. Competition is influenced by liquidity and transparency of the markets, variability in fee structures, breadth of product offerings including quality of new product development as well as efficient and innovative technology. We now face competition from other futures, securities and securities option exchanges; over-the-counter markets; clearing organizations; consortia formed by our members and large market participants; alternative trade execution facilities; technology firms, including market data distributors and electronic trading system developers, and others. As the market continues to evolve, we have worked to adapt our trading technology and clearing services to meet the needs of our customers.

Regulatory Environment. Exchange-traded derivatives have historically been subject to extensive regulation. As a result of the widespread difficulties across the economy over recent years, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) was signed into law in July 2010. Dodd-Frank is a comprehensive banking and financial services reform package that includes significant changes to the oversight of the derivatives markets, both over-the-counter and exchange-traded. While we believe that the new regulations will provide opportunities for our business, the new regulations remain subject to additional rulemaking by various regulators. To the extent the regulatory environment following the implementation of the new legislation and other financial reform regulations is less beneficial for us or our customers, our business, financial condition and operating results could be negatively impacted. We continue to actively participate in the rulemaking process with the goal that the final regulations serve the public interest, foster competition and innovation and do not place the U.S. financial services sector at a competitive disadvantage. Pursuant to Dodd-Frank, in July 2012, the Financial Stability Oversight Council has designated CME as a systemically important financial market utility because it is operating as a U.S. clearing house. This designation creates additional regulatory oversight over our risk-management standards, clearing, and settlement activities.

As a global company with operations and locations around the world, we are also subject to laws and regulations in foreign locations where we do business. The financial services industry in Europe is also undergoing similar regulatory reform, which could result in additional regulation over our European operations.

Business Strategy

Our strategy focuses on leveraging our benchmark products, enhancing our customer relations, expanding our customer base, advancing our clearing and trading technologies, and deriving benefits from our integrated clearing houses as well as our scalable infrastructure. We focus specifically on opportunities created by increased market awareness and acceptance of derivatives, increased price volatility, technological advances and the increasing need for counterparty risk mitigation and clearing services. This strategy allows us to continue to develop into a more broadly diversified financial exchange that provides trading and clearing solutions across a wide range of products and asset classes. We believe that we can build on our competitive strengths by executing on the following initiatives:


•	Grow our core business by launching new products, expanding our existing benchmark product lines as well as improving our customer relations in order to cross-sell our products;

Table of Contents


•	Globalize our business by expanding our presence in Europe as well as diversifying our worldwide customer base through strategic investments and relationships with other key exchanges and intermediaries around the world, including Asia, Latin America and other emerging markets, which allows us to accelerate our market penetration and improve product sales channels;


•	Expand our existing customer base and enhance our products and services offerings by targeting cross asset sales, driving international sales and generating new client participation across the world;


•	Offer a comprehensive multi-asset class clearing solution to the over-the-counter market that maximizes operational efficiency, as well as expand our over-the-counter product offerings and clearing services;

•

Establish ourselves as the leading exchange provider of information products and index services, which will allow us to create additional cross-listing opportunities and new opportunities for index creation. It will also allow us to create opportunities for licensing across global markets as well as expanding market data dissemination services to our global network of clients and exchange partners; and

Revenues

Clearing and transaction fees. A majority of our revenue is derived from clearing and transaction fees, which include electronic trading fees, surcharges for privately-negotiated transactions and other volume-related charges for contracts executed through our trading venues. Because clearing and transaction fees are assessed on a per-contract basis, revenues and profitability fluctuate with changes in contract volume. In addition to the business trends noted earlier, our contract volume, and consequently our revenues, tend to increase during periods of economic and geopolitical uncertainty as our customers seek to manage their exposure to, or speculate on, the market volatility resulting from uncertainty.

While volume has the most significant impact on our clearing and transaction fees revenue, there are four other factors that also influence this source of revenues:


•	rate structure;


•	product mix;


•	venue, and


•	the percentage of trades executed by customers who are members compared with non-member customers.

Rate structure. Customers benefit from volume discounts and limits on fees as part of our effort to increase liquidity in certain products. We offer various incentive programs to promote trading in various products and geographic locations. We may periodically change fees, volume discounts, limits on fees, and member discounts, perhaps significantly, based on our review of operations and the business environment.

Product mix. We offer trading of futures and options on futures contracts as well as cleared-only swap contracts on a wide-ranging set of products based on interest rates, equities, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy and metals. Rates are varied by product in order to optimize revenue on existing products and to encourage contract volume upon introduction of new products.

Venue. Our exchange is an international marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers mainly through our electronic trading and clearing platforms as well as through open outcry trading on our trading floors and privately negotiated transactions. Any customer who is guaranteed by a clearing firm and who agrees to be bound by our exchange rules is able to obtain direct access to our electronic platforms. Open outcry trading is conducted exclusively by our members, who may execute trades on behalf of customers or for themselves.

Typically, customers submitting trades through our electronic platforms are charged fees for using the platforms in addition to the fees assessed on all transactions executed on our exchange. Customers entering into privately negotiated transactions also incur additional charges beyond the fees assessed on other transactions. Privately negotiated transactions include block trades, which are large transactions that are executed between selected parties off the public auction market on CME Globex or the trading floor.

Member/non-member mix. Generally, member customers are charged lower fees than our non-member customers. Holding all other factors constant, revenue decreases if the percentage of trades executed by members increases, and increases if the percentage of non-member trades increases.

Other sources. Revenue is also derived from other sources including market data and information services, access and communication fees and various services related to our exchange and building operations.

Table of Contents

Market data and information services. We receive market data and information services revenue from the dissemination of our market data to subscribers. Subscribers can obtain access to our market data services either directly or through third-party distributors.

Our service offerings include access to real-time, delayed and end-of-day quotations, trade and summary market data for our products and other data sources. Users of our basic service receive real-time quotes and pay a flat monthly fee for each screen, or device, displaying our market data. Alternatively, customers can subscribe to market data provided on a limited group of products. The fee for this service is also a flat rate per month.

Pricing for our market data services is based on the value of the service provided, our cost structure for the service and the price of comparable services offered by our competitors. Increases or decreases in our market data and information services revenue are influenced by changes in our price structure for existing market data offerings, introduction of new market data services and changes in the number of devices in use. General economic factors that affect the financial services industry, which constitutes our primary customer base, also influence revenue from our market data services.

Access and communication fees. Access and communication fees are the connectivity charges to customers of the CME Globex platform, to our market data vendors and to direct market data customers as well as charges to members and clearing firms that utilize our various telecommunications networks and communications services, including our co-location initiative, which was launched in January 2012. Access fee revenue varies depending on the type of connection provided to customers. Revenue from communication fees is dependent on open outcry trading, as a portion relates to telecommunications on our trading floors.

Other revenues. To further diversify the range of services we offer, we have entered into processing and development agreements with other exchanges and service organizations. For example, we have an agreement with BM&FBOVESPA S.A (BM&FBOVESPA) to develop a new multi-asset class electronic trading platform for their customers. We recognize revenue under this agreement as services are provided and when developed technology is delivered.

Additionally, other revenues include fees for administrating our Interest Earning Facility (IEF) program, trade order routing, and various services to members and clearing firms. We offer clearing firms the opportunity to invest cash performance bonds in our various IEF offerings. These clearing firms receive interest income, and we receive a fee based on total funds on deposit. In addition, other revenues include trading gains and losses generated by GFX Corporation (GFX), our wholly-owned subsidiary that trades futures contracts to enhance liquidity in our electronic markets for these products. Other revenues also include gains on sales from various operating assets.

Other revenues also include rent charged to third party tenants as well as ancillary charges for utilities, parking and miscellaneous services provided to tenants.

Expenses

The majority of our expenses do not vary directly with changes in our contract volume. Licensing and other fee agreements and the majority of our employee bonuses do vary directly with contract volume.

Compensation and benefits. Compensation and benefits expense is our most significant expense and includes employee wages, bonuses, stock-based compensation, benefits and employer taxes. Changes in this expense are driven by fluctuations in the number of employees, increases in wages as a result of inflation or labor market conditions, changes in rates for employer taxes and other cost increases affecting benefit plans. In addition, this expense is affected by the composition of our work force. The expense associated with our bonus and stock-based compensation plans can also have a significant impact on this expense category and may vary from year to year.

The bonus component of our compensation and benefits expense is based on our financial performance. Under the performance criteria of our annual incentive plans, the bonus funded under the plans is based on achieving certain financial performance targets established by the compensation committee of our board of directors. The compensation committee may adjust the target level of performance for material, unplanned operating results or capital expenditures to meet intermediate to long-term growth opportunities.

Stock-based compensation is a non-cash expense related to stock options, restricted stock and performance share grants. Stock-based compensation varies depending on the quantity and fair value of awards granted. The fair value of options is derived using the Black-Scholes model with assumptions about our dividend yield, the expected volatility of our stock price based on an analysis of implied and historical volatility, the risk-free interest rate and the expected life of the options granted. The fair value of other awards is based on either the share price on the date of the grant or a model of expected future stock prices.

Professional fees and outside services. This expense includes fees for consulting services received on strategic and technology initiatives, temporary labor as well as legal and accounting fees. This expense may fluctuate as a result of changes in services required to complete initiatives and legal proceedings.

Table of Contents

Amortization of purchased intangibles. This expense includes amortization of intangible assets obtained in our mergers with CBOT Holdings, Inc. and NYMEX Holdings, Inc. as well as other asset and business acquisitions. Intangible assets subject to amortization consist primarily of clearing firm, market data and other customer relationships.

Depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense results from the depreciation of long-lived assets such as buildings, leasehold improvements, furniture, fixtures and equipment. This expense also includes the amortization of purchased and internally developed software.

Other expenses. We incur additional ongoing expenses for communications, technology support services and various other activities necessary to support our operations.

•

Communications expense includes costs for network connections for our electronic platforms and some market data customers; telecommunications costs of our exchange; and fees paid for access to external market data. This expense may be impacted by growth in electronic contract volume, our capacity requirements and changes in the number of telecommunications hubs and connections which allow customers outside the United States to access our electronic platforms directly.


•	Technology support services consist of costs related to maintenance of the hardware and software required to support our technology. Our technology support services costs are driven by system capacity, functionality and redundancy requirements.

•

Occupancy and building operations expense consists of costs related to leased and owned property including rent, maintenance, real estate taxes, utilities and other related costs. We have significant operations located in Chicago and New York City with smaller offices located throughout the world. Additionally, we have trading facilities in Chicago, New York City and Kansas City as well as data centers in various U.S. locations.


•	Licensing and other fee agreements expense includes license fees paid as a result of contract volume in equity index products, and royalty and broker rebates on energy and metals products. This expense fluctuates with changes in contract volumes as well as changes in fee structures.

•

Other expenses include marketing and travel-related expenses as well as general and administrative costs. Marketing, advertising and public relations expense includes media, print and other advertising costs, as well as costs associated with our product promotion. Other expenses also include litigation and customer settlements, impairment charges on operational assets and foreign currency transaction gains and losses resulting from changes in exchange rates on certain foreign deposits.

Non-Operating Income and Expenses

Income and expenses incurred through activities outside of our core operations are considered non-operating. These activities include non-core investing and financing activities.

•

Investment income includes dividend income from our strategic equity investments; gains and losses on trading securities in our non-qualified deferred compensation plans; short-term investment of excess cash, clearing firms' cash performance bonds and guaranty fund contributions; and interest income and realized gains and losses from our marketable securities. Investment income is influenced by the amount of dividends distributed by our strategic investments, the availability of funds generated by operations; market interest rates, and changes in the levels of cash performance bonds deposited by clearing firms.


•	We use derivative financial instruments for the purpose of hedging exposures to fluctuations in interest rates. Any ineffective or excluded portion of our hedges is recognized in earnings immediately.


•	Interest and other borrowing costs are associated with various short-term and long-term funding facilities. We also maintain a commercial paper program with various financial institutions.


•	Equity in net gains (losses) of unconsolidated subsidiaries includes income and losses from our investments in S&P/Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dubai Mercantile Exchange and Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad.


•	Other income (expense) includes the net gain related to the contribution of the DJI asset group and the sale of CMA as well as gains related to our former securities lending program.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The notes to our consolidated financial statements include disclosure of our significant accounting policies. In establishing these policies within the framework of accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, management must make certain assessments, estimates and choices that will result in the application of these principles in a manner that appropriately reflects our financial condition and results of operations. Critical accounting policies are those policies that we believe present the most complex or subjective measurements and have the most potential to affect our financial position and operating results. While all decisions regarding accounting policies are important, there are certain accounting policies that we consider to be

Table of Contents

critical. These critical policies, which are presented in detail in the notes to our consolidated financial statements, relate to the valuation of financial instruments, goodwill and intangible assets, revenue recognition, income taxes, and internal use software costs.

Valuation of financial instruments. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date, or an exit price. We have categorized financial instruments measured at fair value into the following three-level fair value hierarchy based upon the level of judgment associated with the inputs used to measure the fair value:


•	Level 1—Inputs are unadjusted, quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities at the measurement date. Assets and liabilities carried at level 1 fair value generally include U.S. Treasury securities, equity securities listed in active markets, and investments in publicly traded mutual funds with quoted market prices.


•	Level 2—Inputs are either directly or indirectly observable and corroborated by market data or are based on quoted prices in markets that are not active. Assets and liabilities carried at level 2 fair value generally include municipal bonds, asset-backed securities, U.S. government agency securities and certain derivatives.


•	Level 3—Inputs are unobservable and reflect management’s best estimate of what market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Generally assets and liabilities at fair value utilizing level 3 inputs include certain other assets and liabilities with inputs that require management’s judgment.

For further discussion regarding the fair value of financial assets and liabilities, see note 19 in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

Goodwill and intangible assets. We review goodwill for impairment on an annual basis and whenever events or circumstances indicate that its carrying value may not be recoverable. Goodwill may be tested quantitatively for impairment by comparing the carrying value of a reporting unit to its estimated fair value. Estimating the fair value of a reporting unit involves the use of valuation techniques that rely on significant estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions may include forecasted revenue growth rates; forecasted operating margins; risk-adjusted discount rates; forecasted economic and market conditions, and industry multiples. We base our fair value estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable given the information that is available to us at the time of our assessment; however, actual future results may differ significantly from those estimates. Under certain favorable circumstances, goodwill may be reviewed qualitatively for indications of impairment without utilizing valuation techniques to estimate fair value. The qualitative assessment of goodwill relies on significant assumptions about forecasts of revenue growth, operating margins and economic conditions as well as overall market and industry-specific trends.

We also review indefinite-lived intangible assets on an annual basis or more frequently when events and circumstances indicate that their carrying value may not be recoverable. Indefinite-lived intangible assets may be tested quantitatively for impairment by comparing their carrying values to their estimated fair values. Estimating the fair value of indefinite-lived intangible assets involves the use of valuation techniques that rely on significant estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions may include forecasted revenue growth rates; forecasted allocations of expense, and risk-adjusted discount rates. We base our fair value estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable given the information that is available to us at the time of our assessment; however, actual future results may differ significantly from those estimates. Similar to goodwill, under certain favorable circumstances, indefinite-lived intangible assets may be reviewed qualitatively for indications of impairment without utilizing valuation techniques to estimate fair value. The qualitative assessment of indefinite-lived intangibles assets relies on significant assumptions about forecasts of revenue growth, operating margins and economic conditions as well as overall market and industry-specific trends.

Intangible assets subject to amortization are also assessed for impairment when indicated by a change in economic or operational circumstances. The impairment assessment of these assets requires management to first compare the book value of the amortizing asset to undiscounted cash flows. If the book value exceeds the undiscounted cash flows, management is then required to estimate the fair value of the assets and record an impairment loss for the excess of the carrying value over the fair value.

Revenue recognition. A significant portion of our revenue is derived from the clearing and transaction fees we assess on each contract executed through our trading venues and cleared through our clearing houses. Clearing and transaction fees are recognized as revenue when a buy and sell order are matched and when the trade is cleared. On occasion, the customer's exchange trading privileges may not be properly entered by the clearing firm and incorrect fees are charged for the transactions in the affected accounts. When this information is corrected within the time period allowed by the exchange, a fee adjustment is provided to the clearing firm. An accrual is established for estimated fee adjustments to reflect corrections to customer exchange trading privileges. The accrual is based on the historical pattern of adjustments processed as well as specific adjustment requests.

Table of Contents

Income taxes. Calculation of the income tax provision includes an estimate of the income taxes that will be paid for the current year as well as an estimate of income tax liabilities or benefits deferred into future years. Deferred tax assets are reviewed to determine if they will be realized in future periods. To the extent it is determined that some deferred tax assets may not be fully realized, the assets are reduced to their realizable value by a valuation allowance. The calculation of our tax provision involves uncertainty in the application of complex tax regulations. We recognize potential liabilities for anticipated tax audit issues in the United States and other applicable foreign tax jurisdictions using a more-likely-than-not recognition threshold based on the technical merits of the tax position taken or expected to be taken. If payment of these amounts varies from our estimate, our income tax provision would be reduced or increased at the time that determination is made. This determination may not be known for several years. Past tax audits have not resulted in tax adjustments that would result in a material change to the income tax provision in the year the audit was completed. The effective tax rate, defined as the income tax provision as a percentage of income before income taxes, will vary from year to year based on changes in tax jurisdictions, tax rates and regulations. In addition, the effective tax rate will vary with changes to income that are not subject to income tax, such as municipal interest income, and changes in expenses or losses that are not deductible, such as the utilization of foreign net operating losses.

Internal use software costs. Certain internal and external costs that are incurred in connection with developing or obtaining computer software for internal use are capitalized. Software development costs incurred during the planning or maintenance project stages are expensed as incurred, while costs incurred during the application development stage are capitalized and are amortized over the estimated useful life of the software, generally three years. Amortization of capitalized costs begins only when the software becomes ready for its intended use.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

In December 2011 and January 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued updates to existing rules over balance sheet offsetting disclosure. The updates require entities to disclose both gross and net information about certain financial instruments eligible for offset in the balance sheet. Financial instruments may include derivatives, repurchase agreements and securities lending transactions. The objective of these disclosures is to facilitate comparison between those entities that prepare their financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and those entities that prepare their financial statements using International Financial Reporting Standards. The updates are effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013, and interim periods therein, with retrospective application required for comparability purposes.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

2012 Financial Highlights

The comparability of our operating results for the periods presented may be impacted by mergers, acquisitions and disposals of businesses and/or asset groups. Where material, these impacts are discussed in the analysis that follows.

The following summarizes significant changes in our financial performance for the years presented.



										Year-over-Year Change
(dollars in millions, except per share data)	2012			2011			2010			2012-2011		2011-2010
Total revenues	$	2,914.6		$	3,280.6		$	3,003.7		(11	)%	9	%
Total expenses	1,222.6			1,259.5			1,172.6			(3	)	7
Operating margin	58		%	62		%	61		%
Non-operating income (expense)	$	1.4		$	(84.6	)	$	(109.2	)	(102	)	(22	)
Effective tax rate	46		%	6		%	45		%
Net income attributable to CME Group	$	896.3		$	1,812.3		$	951.4		(51	)	90
Diluted earnings per common share attributable to CME Group	2.70			5.43			2.86			(50	)	90
Cash flows from operating activities	1,216.8			1,346.3			1,359.6			(10	)	(1	)


•	In 2012 when compared with 2011, the decrease in total revenues was attributable to lower contract volume and a decrease in market data and information services revenue as a result of the contribution of the DJI asset group. Higher contract volume as well as market data and information services revenue contributed to an increase in revenues in 2011 when compared with 2010.


•	In 2011, we recognized expenses related to the MF Global bankruptcy, resulting in a decrease in expenses in 2012 when compared with 2011 and an increase in 2011 when compared with 2010. Higher compensation and benefits

Table of Contents

expense partially offset the decrease in operating expenses in 2012 when compared with 2011 and contributed to an increase in expenses in 2011 when compared with 2010. In 2010, we also recognized impairment charges on the goodwill and trade name related to our CMA operations.

•

Non-operating income increased from 2011 to 2012 primarily as a result of the net gain from the contribution of the DJI asset group to S&P/DJI and the sale of CMA. In addition, we began recognizing our proportionate share of net income from our venture with McGraw in July 2012. The decrease in non-operating expense in 2011 compared with 2010 was attributable to lower interest expense resulting from the repayment of the $420.5 million term loan in January 2011 and the maturity of the $300.0 million floating rate notes in August 2010.

•

In 2011, we reduced our income tax provision due to a revaluation of our deferred tax liabilities resulting from a change in state tax apportionment. This revaluation contributed to an increase in the effective tax rate in 2012 when compared with 2011 and a decrease in the effective tax rate in 2011 when compared with 2010. The increase in the effective tax rate in 2012 when compared with 2011 was also due to the establishment of deferred tax liabilities associated with S&P/DJI.

Revenues



							Year-over-Year Change
(dollars in millions)	2012		2011		2010		2012-2011		2011-2010
Clearing and transaction fees	$	2,371.5	$	2,710.9	$	2,486.3	(13	)%	9	%
Market data and information services	387.1		427.7		395.1		(9	)	8
Access and communication fees	88.8		49.2		45.4		80		8
Other	67.2		92.8		76.9		(28	)	21
Total Revenues	$	2,914.6	$	3,280.6	$	3,003.7	(11	)	9

Clearing and Transaction Fees

The following table summarizes our total contract volume, revenue and average rate per contract. Total contract volume includes contracts that are traded on our exchange and cleared through our clearing houses. Contract volume also includes certain cleared-only contracts. Volume is measured in round turns, which is considered a completed transaction that involves a purchase and an offsetting sale of a contract. Average rate per contract is determined by dividing total clearing and transaction fees by total contract volume. All amounts exclude our credit default swap, interest rate swap, TRAKRS and CME Clearing Europe contracts. The following table also excludes volume from KCBT from December 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012.



							Year-over-Year Change
	2012		2011		2010		2012-2011		2011-2010
Total contract volume (in millions)	2,890.0		3,386.7		3,078.1		(15	)%	10	%
Clearing and transaction fees (in millions)	$	2,365.6	$	2,710.8	$	2,486.2	(13	)	9
Average rate per contract	0.819		0.800		0.808		2		(1	)

We estimate the following increases (decreases) in clearing and transaction fees based on change in total contract volume and change in average rate per contract during 2012 compared with 2011, and during 2011 compared with 2010.



	Year-over-Year Change
(in millions)	2012-2011			2011-2010
Increase (decrease) due to change in total contract volume	$	(406.6	)	$	247.0
Increase (decrease) due to change in average rate per contract	61.4			(22.4		)
Net increase (decrease) in clearing and transaction fees	$	(345.2	)	$	224.6

Average rate per contract is impacted by our rate structure, including volume-based incentives; product mix; trading venue, and the percentage of volume executed by customers who are members compared with non-member customers. Due to the relationship between average rate per contract and contract volume, the change in clearing and transaction fees attributable to changes in each is only an approximation.

Table of Contents

Contract Volume

The following table summarizes average daily contract volume. Contract volume can be influenced by many factors, including political and economic factors, the regulatory environment and market competition.



				Year-over-Year Change
(amounts in thousands)	2012	2011	2010	2012-2011		2011-2010
Average Daily Volume by Product Line:
Interest rate	4,834	6,030	5,449	(20	)%	11	%
Equity	2,560	3,238	2,907	(21	)	11
Foreign exchange	845	922	919	(8	)	—
Agricultural commodity ⁽¹⁾	1,140	1,087	914	5		19
Energy	1,692	1,775	1,662	(5	)	7
Metal	352	387	316	(9	)	23
Aggregate average daily volume	11,423	13,439	12,167	(15	)	10

Average Daily Volume by Venue:
Electronic	9,739	11,350	10,120	(14	)	12
Open outcry	1,045	1,398	1,402	(25	)	—
Privately negotiated	221	231	198	(5	)	17
Total exchange-traded volume	11,005	12,979	11,720	(15	)	11
Total CME ClearPort	418	460	447	(9	)	3
Aggregate average daily volume	11,423	13,439	12,167	(15	)	10

(1) The agricultural commodity product line does not include the agricultural commodity contract volume for KCBT. The average daily volume for KCBT's agricultural commodity contracts was 16,100 during December 2012.

Interest Rate Products

The following table summarizes average daily volume for our key interest rate products. Eurodollar front 8 contracts include contracts expiring within two years. Eurodollar back 32 contracts include contracts expiring within three to ten years.



				Year-over-Year Change
(amounts in thousands)	2012	2011	2010	2012-2011		2011-2010
Eurodollar futures and options:
Front 8 futures	1,099	1,717	1,646	(36	)%	4	%
Back 32 futures	579	510	357	13		43
Options	410	767	726	(47	)	6
U.S. Treasury futures and options:
10-Year	1,255	1,454	1,380	(14	)	5
5-Year	567	720	546	(21	)	32
Treasury bond	427	415	388	3		7
2-Year	230	297	274	(22	)	8

Overall interest rate contract volume decreased in 2012 when compared with 2011 due to low interest rate volatility as a result of the Federal Reserve's continued intent to maintain its zero interest rate policy through mid-2015. In 2012 when compared with 2011, the increase in volume in the long-term interest rate products, including the Eurodollar back 32 futures and the Treasury bond futures and options contracts was attributable to periods of higher long-term interest rate volatility in early 2012. The Federal Reserve's announcement in January 2012 to extend its zero interest rate policy shifted market expectations regarding long-term interest rates, which resulted in periods of higher volatility in early 2012.

In 2011 when compared with 2010, the overall increase in interest rate contract volume was attributable to volatility caused by a change in market expectations regarding short-term and long-term interest rates tied to the Federal Reserve's announcement in 2011 that it intended to maintain its zero interest rate policy through 2013. In addition, volatility caused by the downgrade of the United States credit rating in August 2011 also contributed to an increase in overall volume. Mid-term interest rate contract volume, which includes Eurodollar back 32 futures and 5-year U.S. Treasury futures and options, grew at a faster rate than

Table of Contents

short-term contract volume because of a shift from contracts based on short-term interest rates to mid-term interest rates due to the continued zero interest rate policy.

We also believe that overall U.S. Treasury futures and options contract volume increased in 2011 when compared with 2010 due to institutional portfolio adjustments caused by the downgrade of the United States credit rating. Many institutional portfolios are required to maintain an average minimum overall credit rating. When the U.S. Treasury credit rating was downgraded, the institutional portfolios had to sell investments with lower credit ratings and buy more U.S. Treasuries in order to increase their average minimum overall credit rating. In addition, the growth in overall U.S. Treasury futures and options contract volume was attributable to increased demand for U.S. Treasury securities as a safe haven investment during the European credit crisis.

Equity Products

The following table summarizes average daily volume for our key equity products.



				Year-over-Year Change
(amounts in thousands)	2012	2011	2010	2012-2011		2011-2010
E-mini S&P 500 futures and options	2,016	2,605	2,285	(23	)%	14	%
E-mini NASDAQ 100 futures and options	254	301	317	(16	)	(5	)

The decrease in equity contract volume in 2012 when compared with 2011 was due to a decline in equity market volatility, as measured by the CBOE Volatility Index. The decline in volatility was the result of few new developments in the macroeconomic environment within the United States and European markets. We believe a decline in assets under management also contributed to a decrease in volume in 2012 when compared with 2011.

In 2011 when compared with 2010, an overall increase in volatility contributed to higher equity contract volume. We believe the periods of high volatility within the equity markets during the third quarter of 2011were attributable to the downgrade of the United States credit rating and the continuation of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. In general, equity products such as the E-mini NASDAQ contracts that hedge market risks different than those of the E-mini S&P 500, our most liquid equity product, do not tend to benefit from macro-level events or increased volatility to the same extent.

Foreign Exchange Products

The following table summarizes average daily volume for our key foreign exchange products.



				Year-over-Year Change
(amounts in thousands)	2012	2011	2010	2012-2011		2011-2010
Euro	290	357	367	(19	)%	(3	)%
Australian dollar	134	126	105	7		20
British pound	106	118	124	(10	)	(5	)
Japanese yen	99	118	131	(16	)	(10	)
Canadian dollar	93	92	91	1		1

The overall decrease in foreign exchange contract volume in 2012 when compared with 2011 was attributable primarily to the decline in euro contract volume. We believe trading activity in euro contracts was impacted by the lack of a directional trend due to uncertainty related to the health of the European Union and concern regarding additional economic stimulus provided by the Federal Reserve. The lack of a trend has reduced trading in euro contracts among customers who trade based on medium- to long-term expectations. We believe th uncertainty with the European Union also contributed to a decline in British pound contract volume in 2012 when compared with 2011 because the British economy is closely tied to the European Union. We believe that intervention by the Japanese central bank to control the yen foreign exchange rate beginning in mid-2011 through 2012 caused market participants to reduce their trading in Japanese yen contracts and to focus on higher yielding currencies, such as the Australian and Canadian dollars.

In 2011 when compared with 2010, foreign exchange contract volume remained at a consistent level. We believe that intervention by the Japanese central bank to control the yen foreign exchange rate and uncertainty about the Euro as a result of the European sovereign debt crisis caused the market to move to safe haven currencies, such as the Australian dollar and the Canadian dollar. As a result, Euro and Japanese yen contract volume decreased while Australian dollar volume increased.

Table of Contents

Agricultural Commodity Products

The following table summarizes average daily volume for our key agricultural commodity products.



				Year-over-Year Change
(amounts in thousands)	2012	2011	2010	2012-2011		2011-2010
Corn	392	426	358	(8	)%	19	%
Soybean	278	232	186	20		25
Wheat ⁽¹⁾	129	115	109	12		5
Soybean Oil	118	105	89	12		18

(1) Wheat contract volume does not include volume for KCBT's hard red winter wheat products. The average daily volume for KCBT's agricultural commodity contracts was 16,100 during December 2012.

The increase in agricultural commodity contract volume in 2012 when compared with 2011 was attributable to higher volatility resulting from severe drought conditions in the Midwest in the second and third quarters of 2012. We believe the increased volatility was the result of supply constraint concerns for soybean and wheat supplies. Corn volumes declined slightly in 2012 when compared with 2011. Early market expectations of excess supply in 2012 dampened corn price volatility in early 2012, which resulted in the decline in volume.

We believe that the increase in contract volume in 2011 when compared with 2010 was attributable to a decline in supply due to various weather events including flooding, drought and excessive heat. The change in supply resulted in increased volatility and higher grain prices. We also believe that the increase in volume resulted from increased demand for feedgrains caused by higher demand for cattle and other proteins in emerging markets.

Energy Products

The following table summarizes average daily volume for our key energy products.



				Year-over-Year Change
(amounts in thousands)	2012	2011	2010	2012-2011		2011-2010
Crude oil	729	900	853	(19	)%	5	%
Natural gas	600	533	489	12		9
Refined products	314	275	244	14		13

Energy contract volume decreased slightly in 2012 when compared with 2011. A decline in crude oil contract volume resulting from lower price volatility contributed to an overall decrease in energy products volume. Political unrest in the Middle East in the first quarter of 2011 resulted in changes in global supply, which contributed to higher price volatility in early 2011 relative to 2012. Additionally, lower crude oil contract volume in 2012 was partially attributable to oversupply in Cushing, Oklahoma. We believe that the reversal of the Seaway Pipeline in the second quarter of 2012, and ongoing capacity increases in the pipeline, will continue to relieve oversupply and provide needed infrastructure for ongoing expected North American crude oil supply increases. However, uncertainty remains over the timing and extent of the impact the reversal will have on the overall crude oil market. The decrease in crude oil contract volume was partially offset by an increase in natural gas contract volume. The increase in natural gas contract volume resulted largely from volatility around production shifts in the early part of 2012. Refined products growth is due to increased volatility caused by a growing US export market as global oil markets adapt to increased supply of North American crude oil, despite refinery shutdowns.

In 2011 when compared with 2010, we believe the increase in energy contract volume was attributable to increased price volatility within the energy market during the first quarter of 2011. We also believe that increased volatility caused by weather-related events led to an increase in natural gas contract volume in 2011.

Table of Contents

Metal Products

The following table summarizes average daily volume for our key metal products.



				Year-over-Year Change
(amounts in thousands)	2012	2011	2010	2012-2011		2011-2010
Gold	212	238	208	(11	)%	14	%
Copper	64	50	41	29		22
Silver	60	87	57	(31	)	51

The overall decrease in metal products volume in 2012 when compared with 2011 was due to lower volatility in the precious metals markets in 2012 when compared with 2011. We believe the August 2011 announcement of the Federal Reserve's intent to maintain its zero interest rate policy and deepening Eurozone worries, which caused high volatility within other financial markets in 2011, resulted in an increased interest in precious metals as an asset class. This increased interest in 2011 resulted in relative decreases in gold and silver contract volume in 2012 when compared with 2011. This decrease was partially offset by an increase in volume for copper contracts as a result of economic growth in Asia as well as global supply constraints.

The overall increase in metal contract volume in 2011 when compared with 2010 was attributable to the increased investment in precious metals as an asset class due to high volatility and uncertainty within the financial markets. We believe that there was an increase in silver contract volume due to the greater use of silver as an alternative investment.

Average Rate per Contract

The average rate per contract increased in 2012 when compared with 2011 due to a shift in the relative mix of product volume. In 2012, agricultural commodity and energy product volumes, when measured as a percentage of total volume, each increased by 2% while interest rate and equity product volumes decreased by 3% and 2%, respectively. Agricultural commodity and energy products have higher fees compared with interest rate products and equity products.

In 2011 when compared with 2010, the average rate per contract decreased due to an increase in member contract volume, which increased faster than non-member trading. In general, members receive lower rates when compared with non-members.

Concentration of Revenue

We bill a substantial portion of our clearing and transaction fees to our clearing firms. The majority of clearing and transaction fees received from clearing firms represent charges for trades executed and cleared on behalf of their customers. Two firms each represented 12% of our clearing and transaction fees revenue in 2012. One firm represented 12% of our clearing and transaction fees revenue in 2011. One firm represented 13% and one firm represented 12% of our clearing and transaction fees revenue in 2010. Should a clearing firm withdraw, we believe that the customer portion of the firm's trading activity would likely transfer to another clearing firm of the exchange. Therefore, we do not believe we are exposed to significant risk from an ongoing loss of revenue received from or through a particular clearing firm.

Other Sources of Revenue

Market data and information services. The decline in market data and information services revenue in 2012 when compared with 2011 resulted from a $53.2 million decrease in market data and information services revenue from Index Services and CMA. In the second quarter of 2012, the DJI asset group, including assets which generated market data and information services revenue, was contributed to the McGraw venture and CMA was sold to McGraw. In addition, the decrease in revenue was due to a decline in the basic device count in 2012 due to cost-cutting initiatives at customer firms. The decrease in market data and information services was partially offset by an increase in our basic device service fee from $61 per month to $70 per month effective January 2012.

Revenues from Index Services contributed to an increase in market data and information services revenue in 2011 when compared with 2010. In March 2010, we formed Index Services, which generated additional revenues of $35.6 million in 2011 when compared with 2010. In addition, revenues from Index Services increased in 2011 when compared with 2010 due to growth in assets under management, which was driven by underlying index market performance. The overall increase in 2011 when compared with 2010 was partially offset by a decline in revenue due to a decrease in basic device counts resulting from cost-cutting initiatives at customer firms.

The two largest resellers of our market data represented, in aggregate, 43%, 39% and 45% of our market data and information services revenue in 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. Despite this concentration, we consider exposure to significant risk of revenue loss to be minimal. In the event that one of these vendors no longer subscribes to our market data, we believe the majority of that vendor's customers would likely subscribe to our market data through another reseller. Additionally, several of

Table of Contents

our largest institutional customers that utilize services from our two largest resellers report usage and remit payment of their fees directly to us.

Access and communication fees. Our co-location program contributed to an increase in access and communication fees revenue from 2010 through 2012. During the fourth quarter of 2011, we substantially completed installations of equipment for customers and launched our co-location services on January 29, 2012. We generated incremental revenue of $47.8 million in 2012 when compared with 2011 and incremental revenue of $3.4 million in 2011 when compared with 2010.

Other revenue. In 2012 when compared with 2011, the decrease in other revenue was largely due to a decline in rental income of $13.1 million resulting from the sale of the CBOT buildings in Chicago. In the second quarter of 2011, we recognized a $9.8 million gain on the sale of certain Index Services assets related to one of its service offerings, which contributed to a decrease in other revenues in 2012 when compared with 2011. The initial phase to develop a new multi-asset class electronic platform for BM&FBOVESPA was completed in the third quarter of 2011, which also resulted in a decrease in other revenues in 2012. The decrease in other revenues in 2012 when compared with 2011 was partially offset by additional processing services revenue from various strategic relationships.

In 2011 when compared with 2010, the increase in other revenues was largely attributable to the $9.8 million gain on the sale of certain Index Services assets and additional processing services revenue. The increase was partially offset by a decrease in revenues resulting from our platform development for BM&FBOVESPA.

Expenses



							Year-over-Year Change
(dollars in millions)	2012		2011		2010		2012-2011		2011-2010
Compensation and benefits	$	496.7	$	475.7	$	432.1	4	%	10	%
Communications	40.1		42.3		40.6		(5	)	4
Technology support services	50.7		52.1		50.5		(3	)	3
Professional fees and outside services	126.8		126.1		117.5		1		7
Amortization of purchased intangibles	116.2		132.0		128.1		(12	)	3
Depreciation and amortization	136.9		128.5		129.9		6		(1	)
Occupancy and building operations	77.0		77.5		74.9		(1	)	3
Licensing and other fee agreements	82.6		84.9		82.6		(3	)	3
Other	95.6		140.4		116.4		(32	)	21
Total Expenses	$	1,222.6	$	1,259.5	$	1,172.6	(3	)	7

2012 Compared With 2011

Operating expenses decreased by $36.9 million in 2012 when compared with 2011. The following table shows the estimated impact of key factors resulting in the decrease in operating expenses.



(dollars in millions)	Year- Over-Year Change			Change as a Percentage of 2011 Expenses
Salaries, benefits and employer taxes	$	15.0		1	%
Stock-based compensation	10.1			1
Non-qualified deferred compensation	5.7			—
Bonus expense	(15.2		)	(1	)
Amortization of purchased intangibles	(15.9		)	(1	)
MF Global-related expense	(27.6		)	(3	)
Other expenses, net	(9.0		)	—
Total	$	(36.9	)	(3	)%

In 2012 when compared with 2011, an increase in salaries, benefits and employer taxes resulted from higher salaries and rising healthcare costs. The increase was partially offset by a decrease in average headcount as a result of the contribution of the DJI asset group to the McGraw venture and the sale of CMA in the second quarter of 2012.

The increase in stock-based compensation expense was due to the accelerated vesting of stock-based compensation associated with our CEO transition in 2012 as well as the impact related to the September 2011 and 2012 grants.

Table of Contents

An increase in our non-qualified deferred compensation liability, the impact of which does not affect net income because of an equal and offsetting change in investment income, contributed to an increase in compensation and benefits expense.

Bonus expense decreased due to performance relative to our 2012 cash earnings target when compared with 2011 performance relative to our 2011 cash earnings target.

Amortization of purchased intangibles declined as a result of the contribution of the DJI asset group, the sale of CMA and the disposal of certain lease-related intangible assets in the second quarter of 2012.

Overall expenses also decreased in 2012 when compared with 2011 due to the expenses incurred in 2011 as a result of the MF Global bankruptcy filing in the fourth quarter of 2011, which included write-offs of accounts receivable, legal fees and losses on collateral posted by GFX and held by MF Global in customer segregated funds as well as other related expenses. In 2012, we recognized a recovery on the losses incurred on collateral posted by GFX in 2011.

2011 Compared With 2010

Operating expenses increased by $86.9 million in 2011 when compared with 2010. The following table shows the estimated impact of key factors resulting in the increase in operating expenses.



(dollars in millions)	Year- Over-Year Change			Change as a Percentage of 2010 Expenses
Salaries, benefits and employer taxes	$	44.2		4	%
MF Global-related expense	29.1			2
Stock-based compensation	10.5			1
Marketing expense	7.0			1
Professional fees related to Index Services	(10.7		)	(1	)
CMA goodwill and trade name impairment	(20.5		)	(2	)
Other expenses, net	27.3			2
Total	$	86.9		7	%

Salary increases and rising healthcare costs contributed to a rise in salaries, benefits and employer taxes. An increase in average headcount primarily due to the formation of Index Services and investment in strategic growth initiatives also contributed to an increase in expense in 2011 when compared with 2010.

Expenses increased due to the MF Global bankruptcy filing in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Stock-based compensation increased in 2011 due to the expense impact related to the September 2010 and 2011 grants.

Marketing expenses increased in 2011 due primarily to new advertising initiatives.

A decrease in professional fees in 2011 was attributable to the formation and integration of Index Services, which occurred in the first quarter of 2010.

Impairment charges recorded in the second quarter of 2010 on the goodwill and trade name related to our CMA operations also contributed to a decrease in expenses in 2011 when compared with 2010.

Non-Operating Income (Expense)



										Year-over-Year Change
(dollars in millions)	2012			2011			2010			2012-2011		2011-2010
Investment income	$	38.7		$	36.7		$	42.3		5	%	(13	)%
Impairment of long-term investments	—			—			(2.2		)	—		(100	)
Gains (losses) on derivative investments	(0.1		)	(0.1		)	(2.6		)	—		(96	)
Interest and other borrowing costs	(132.2		)	(116.9		)	(140.3		)	13		(17	)
Equity in net gains (losses) of unconsolidated subsidiaries	30.7			(4.3		)	(6.4		)	n.m.		(33	)
Other income (expense)	64.3			—			—			n.m.		—
Total Non-Operating	$	1.4		$	(84.6	)	$	(109.2	)