From the Top

These have been some of the most tumultuous and difficult times that we have ever seen in financial markets. Credit problems created by the subprime real estate debacle, resulting in the worst fi nancial crisis in recent history, have spilled over into virtually every other facet of our global fi nancial system and economy.

During this period of unprecedented uncertainty, CME Group offers the assurance of our $7 billion fi nancial safeguards system, which protects against systemic risk. Regardless of the events of the day, our central counterparty model has continued to provide our customers with transparency and liquidity in all asset classes - equities, interest rates, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals. Soon we hope to extend the benefi ts of this model to the troubled credit-default swaps market through a fully integrated trading and clearing solution.

Against this backdrop, on September 15-17, we hosted our first-ever Global Financial Leadership Conference, where participants had an opportunity to interact with some of the world's leaders in business, finance and politics to discuss emerging geopolitical trends and debate critical economic issues. We were privileged to have former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker as our keynote speakers. The conference could not have been more timely or relevant.

This issue of our magazine includes much of the rich content that was presented and discussed at our conference and also explores a number of critical, current topics, including:

• The global credit crisis and its implications.
• Commodity market trends.
• Central bankers' views on the foreign exchange market.
• Opportunities and challenges in the BRIC countries.

We greatly appreciate our customers and speakers who were able to join us during this pivotal time in the global financial marketplace. As events continue to unfold, we pledge to continue seeking improved ways to provide the security our customers need as they manage risk in today's volatile markets.

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