Pivot has built a widely adopted instant messaging platform for the energy and equity markets. CME Direct Messenger will build on Pivot's messaging platform to offer sophisticated instant messaging, content parsing and broadcast technologies. These tools are widely used to distribute and negotiate Request-for-Quotes, block orders, complex options and other order types within the energy and equity markets. CME Direct Messenger will integrate that technology into pre-trade, trade and post-trade workflows of traders and brokers.

CME Direct Messenger is part of CME Direct, a new technology offering side-by-side trading of exchange listed and over-the-counter markets. CME Direct currently supports trading of CME Group's benchmark energy futures markets and OTC energy swaps. These are part of the CME Group energy complex, which has average daily trading volumes of over 1.9 million contracts.

"Instant messaging has become a critical part of the financial community's price discovery and trading operations," said Michel Everaert, Managing Director, OTC Solutions at CME Group. "By integrating Pivot's messaging solutions with CME Direct, we will offer our customers an industry-leading messaging software, alongside the first fully automated front-to-back-office platform for trading CME Group's listed and OTC energy products. This is an important addition to our electronic trading offering for energy markets, and it will create new efficiencies and trading opportunities for our clients."

"Our suite of instant messaging technologies helps traders collaborate with one another in real time and enables them to negotiate complex trades quickly and efficiently," said John H. Eley, CEO of Pivot Inc. "By deeply embedding these tools into CME Direct, customers will have an integrated, state of the art, holistic platform for managing instant messaging workflows and trading listed and OTC derivatives markets."

For equity market participants, Pivot will continue to be offered and supported as a stand-alone service.