CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that Dr. Izumi Kazuhara will join the company as Executive Director, Head of Japan in June.
Based in Tokyo, Dr. Kazuhara will be responsible for developing growth opportunities and customer relationships for CME Group throughout Japan.
Julien Le Noble, CME Group Managing Director, Head of Asia Pacific, said: "Dr. Kazuhara's joins our team in Asia, bringing with him unparalleled experience and insight to our growing presence in the Japanese market. We will continue to work with Japan's financial community to leverage our global risk management benchmark products and help our clients achieve their risk management goals in the country, as well as develop new benchmark products and services needed in the region."
Dr. Kazuhara has extensive experience in the exchanges sector and derivatives industry, having previously worked at both NYSE Euronext and EUREX. He started his career in the academic world as an expert in international economic and competition law. He worked at Nikkei Europe while simultaneously studying for his PhD in Law at Frankfurt University. He also has a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws from Sophia University, Tokyo.
Yesterday, the Osaka Securities Exchange launched futures contracts based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and CME Group will offer an E-mini futures contract based on the Nikkei 225 Average, listed by and subject to the rules of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, beginning Sunday, June 17 for a trade date of Monday, June 18, both denominated in Japanese yen. More recently, an agreement was reached with Japan's leading price vendor for energy products, RIM Intelligence, to develop clearing services for over-the-counter (OTC) risk management products used by the Japanese energy industry.
CME Group's exchanges offer a range of products for customers interacting with Japanese markets, including full-sized Nikkei 225 equity indexes denominated in both U.S. dollar and Japanese yen, Euroyen TIBOR interest rate futures; USD/JPY currency futures in full-sized, E-mini and E-micro formats as well as yen currency pairs against the euro, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, and Swiss franc; and weather index products for Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima.