OTC and OneChicago Clearing
Over-the-Counter Products

In keeping with its tradition of innovation and response to market needs, CME Clearing is extending its services to the over-the-counter (OTC) marketplace. Through CME Clearing360, OTC trades made by firms such as hedge funds, proprietary trading firms and global and regional banks have access to the same performance guarantee that has traditionally been available only with exchange-traded products.

Clearing360

The CME Clearing360 program offers central clearing for specially designated OTC trades made by firms such as hedge funds, proprietary trading firms and global and regional banks. It enables OTC participants to substitute OTC trades for cleared-only futures positions and thereby benefit from the elimination of counterparty credit concerns. It also makes it possible to take advantage of existing systems and infrastructure offered by CME Clearing and its clearing member firms. To participate in Clearing360 services you need to have a relationship with a CME clearing member firm – or be a clearing member.

Clearing360 benefits include:

  • Greater capital and operational efficiencies, including risk offsets against related futures and options positions
  • World-class risk management of the credit, operational and legal risks related to OTC trading
  • Regulated market protections

To learn more, read the CME Clearing360 Q&A (PDF).  You may also view a sample Clearing360 swap form (PDF).

Substitutions (“Subs”)
The Substitutions (Subs) of futures for forwards program is part of the Clearing360 initiative to extend existing clearing services to the OTC marketplace. It is currently in place for Eurodollar transactions, but we expect to extend it to other markets in the future. The Subs program enables you to:

  • Substitute CME futures contracts for over-the-counter (OTC) transactions in standard contract terms
  • Streamline the transaction process, consolidate OTC and futures positions for administration and clearing
  • Work with a single counterparty, CME Clearing

For example, you can substitute daily expirations of Eurodollar futures contracts of up to six calendar months for Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs).

Subs are available in standard futures monthly and quarterly expirations, and for futures with flexible expiration dates. They also offer flexibility in contract size (unit of trade) beyond standard futures contract sizes.

With Subs, you can also do OTC swap-to-futures substitutions at a favorable cost compared to OTC market bid/ask spreads. Prices are based upon a sliding scale, so the per-contract cost declines as the term of the transaction increases.

To learn more, read An Overview of CME Substitutions (PDF)

Sliding Scale of Substitutions (Subs) Fees

The following table demonstrates the advantages of the sliding scale for subs fees.  Please note that the “Total/Contract” column shows the per contract cost for each year of CME Eurodollar expirations.

The combination of the CME Clearing and SUB/EBF fees, $0.99 per contract if eight consecutive quarterly expirations were bought or sold, makes an all-in cost per strip of $7.92.

With longer maturities, SUB and EBF transactions are even more cost effective, with costs per contract for transactions extending out 5- to 7-years at $0.49 to $0.29, respectively.

Maturity in Years Clearing Fee SUB/EBF Fee Total/Contract Total Structure Cost

1

$0.09

$1.00

$1.09

$4.36

2

$0.09

$0.90

$0.99

$7.92

3

$0.09

$0.70

$0.79

$9.48

4

$0.09

$0.50

$0.59

$9.44

5

$0.09

$0.40

$0.49

$9.80

6

$0.09

$0.30

$0.39

$9.36

7

$0.09

$0.20

$0.29

$8.12

8

$0.09

$0.20

$0.29

$9.28

9

$0.09

$0.10

$0.19

$6.84

10

$0.09

$0.10

$0.19

$7.60

CME Swaps on Swapstream

A subsidiary of CME Group, Swapstream is a service provider offering a global electronic trading platform to banks, brokers and clients in the interest rate swaps trading community. In the first-quarter 2008, a new all-electronic product, CME Swaps on Swapstream, will be the first interest rate swap product to offer the OTC marketplace the full benefit of central counterparty clearing. CME Swaps on Swapstream will trade on the Swapstream sPro platform.

Read more about theSwapstream platforms and CME Swaps on Swapstream.

FXMarketSpace Clearing

FXMarketSpace, a joint venture company of CME Group and Reuters, is the first centrally-cleared, global FX platform for the cash FX market. The platform offers spot trading in select G7 currencies which represent the bulk (78%) of foreign exchange trading activity. CME Clearing clears all trades placed through the platform.

Read more about FXMarketSpace.
Clearing for OneChicago Products

Firms that choose to clear OneChicago products through CME must sign a number of documents and be aware of clearing policy and procedures. The documents include clearing and legal agreements, trading information and security futures codes. These forms appear below.

OneChicago Clearing Information and Legal Agreements

Firms wishing to clear OneChicago products must read and, where appropriate, execute the following:

Enhancements to the CME Edit File for OneChicago
Enhancements to the CME Edit File for OneChicago, Client Management Advisory CM-0275, published Sept. 13, 2002. The CME Edit File, published daily and available on the Internet, now provides (a) a cross-reference between the full OneChicago product code and the two-byte CME clearing code, and (b) the CME-internal firm numbers assigned to CBOE firms, so that CME firms can do cross-exchange give-ups with CBOE firms and vice versa.
Please check back periodically for the latest information and updates.

OneChicago Trading Information

Market Data Information

If you wish to clear OneChicago products at CME Clearing and have access to OneChicago market data, please read:

Please check back periodically for the latest information and updates. 

If you wish to access OneChicago market data via CME Globex, please read:

Please check back periodically for the latest information and updates. 

Security Futures Testing
You can now test Security Futures Products (SFP) in the CME Group certification environment using their existing iLink 2.0 user IDs. SFPs are available for testing Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Central time). Weekly maintenance is scheduled every Wednesday from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Central time).

You must request that your CME Group certification ID be enabled to access the SFP environment. Please contact your Technology Marketing Account Manager at info@cmegroup.com or 312-930-2397 for more information

OneChicago Product Information

For information on trading OneChicago products and clearing them at CME Group, please read the CME Group User Reference Guide (PDF).

To find out about transaction costs, please read the OneChicago Fee Schedule.

View the Security Futures Margins Q&A (PDF)

Security Futures Codes

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