Vermaas, whose appointment as CEO is subject to regulatory approval by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will report to William Knottenbelt, CME Group Senior Managing Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Vermaas will be responsible for the ongoing build-out of CME Europe to meet the needs of customers in the European marketplace, following the exchange's initial launch in April 2014 with 30 FX futures products and seven biofuel products.

"We are very pleased to welcome Cees to CME Group in this critical role leading and growing our new European derivatives exchange," said Knottenbelt.  "His deep exchange experience, coupled with his strong understanding of the diverse needs of European market participants for risk management and liquidity access in local jurisdictions, will be a tremendous resource as we look to extend our product offering across multiple asset classes."

In addition to CME Europe, CME Group's infrastructure investment in Europe has grown through the CME European Trade Repository that began operations in February of this year and the opening of CME Clearing Europe in May 2011, which provides clearing services for more than 200 OTC commodity and financial products as well as for CME Europe.  Through this integrated offering, CME Group is well positioned to continue serving the European marketplace and expanding its international footprint overall.

Vermaas served as CEO of NYSE Euronext Amsterdam and as a member of the Management Committee of NYSE Euronext since 2010, with global responsibility for international business development for cash and listings.  Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President, Head of European Cash Markets, where he was responsible for NYSE Euronext's European cash trading business, including equities, fixed income, operations, projects and business development.  He originally joined Euronext in 2002 as Director Cash Market Netherlands before being promoted Netherlands before being promoted to Executive Director Sales and Marketing, Cash Market.  His background also includes a decade working in IT and commercial roles at leading Dutch and international companies. 

Vermaas holds a degree in business engineering from the Rijswijk University of Technical Education in The Netherlands.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers and the American Chamber of Commerce of the Netherlands.  He also is a Board Member of the Dutch Securities Institute and an Ambassador of the War Trauma Foundation.