OREANDA-NEWS. September 15, 2016. CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced the launch of the first-ever, exchange-traded precious metals spread and ratio futures contracts. The three new contracts include Gold/Silver Ratio futures, Gold/Platinum Spread futures and Platinum/Palladium Spread futures and will begin trading on Monday, October 24, 2016, pending regulatory review.

These three new contracts will provide market participants with an innovative way to manage precious metals price relationships, while accessing the deep liquidity offered by COMEX Gold and Silver, and NYMEX Platinum and Palladium futures.  

"The introduction of these ratio and spread futures contracts respond directly to customer demand for new tools to more effectively manage the price relationships of our precious metals futures contracts, which are often used to manage portfolio risk," said Miguel Vias, CME Group Head of Precious Metals. "These three new futures contracts will eliminate a great deal of complexity involved in price ratio and spread trading of precious metals and provide a broader subset of market participants the tools to offset macroeconomic risk."

These contracts will be financially settled and build on CME Group's existing suite of precious benchmark precious metals products. Gold/Silver Ratio futures will be 500 index points in size and reference the ratio of the COMEX Gold and Silver futures price for each day of the contract month. Gold/Platinum Spread futures will be 100 troy ounces in size and reference the difference between the COMEX Gold and NYMEX Platinum futures price for each business day of the contract month. Platinum/Palladium Spread futures will be 100 troy ounces in size and reference the difference between the NYMEX Platinum and Palladium futures price for each business day of the contract month.

Beginning with the December 2016 contract month, all three contracts will be available for trading electronically via CME Globex, as well as submission for clearing through CME ClearPort. Gold/Silver Ratio futures and Gold/Platinum Spread futures contracts will be listed by and subject to the rules of COMEX. Platinum/Palladium Spread futures will be listed by and subject to the rules of NYMEX.

For more information about CME Group precious metals, visit www.cmegroup.com/precious.  

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk.  CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals.  Around the world, CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex® electronic trading platform and its exchanges based in Chicago, New York and London.  CME Group also operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers through CME Clearing and CME Clearing Europe, which offer clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives.  CME Group's products and services ensure that businesses around the world can effectively manage risk and achieve growth.

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe Logo, CME, Globex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and the Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are registered trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.