CME Unveils Regional Structure for International Business

CME Group is restructuring its international business in EMEA and Asia-Pacific ahead of the retirement of current head of international at the exchange group William Knottenbelt at the end of this year. The new team, a mixture of internal moves and an external hire, will report to Derek Sammann, senior managing director, global head of commodities, options and international markets.

Michel Everaert, has been named head of EMEA, a new position based in London. He joined CME in 2011 and most recently served as the company’s co-head of client development and sales (CD&S) for EMEA. He previously worked in derivatives markets including roles at IMEX Group, GFI Group, Logica, Reuters and Dow Jones.

Russell Beattie will join CME Group in May as managing director and head of Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, Beattie has over 25 years of experience in the listed and OTC derivatives markets and most recently served as head of Asia Pacific derivatives Indexes for MSCI. He also held APAC leadership roles for Bank of America Securities, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and HSBC. He replaces Chris Fix at CME, who retired in March 2022.

Additionally, Serge Marston has been appointed managing director and head of CD&S for EMEA, responsible for leading CME’s sales efforts in the region across both listed derivatives and cash markets. Marston will be based in London and will report to David Hartney, global head of CD&S. He joined CME Group in 2018 following the company’s acquisition of Nex Group and most recently served as co-head of CD&S for EMEA. Marston previously worked at Deutsche Bank for nearly 20 years where he held a variety of roles including global head of e-commerce sales.

“After record volume growth in EMEA and Asia Pacific for each of the past 10 years, approximately 30% of our revenue is now generated from non-US markets,” says Sammann. “Building on that momentum, the organisational changes announced today further elevate both the significance and opportunities that these regions represent to our overall business and reflect the many achievements of our talented regional team members. To that end, I want to thank William for his contributions in getting us to this point in the continued evolution of our international business.

“I’m now pleased to appoint Michel Everaert, who is a long-standing CME Group employee, to head our EMEA region and name Russell Beattie to lead our business in Asia Pacific,” he continues. “Our new structure will enhance our ability to provide local expertise and globally relevant products and services to meet the diverse risk management needs of our clients around the world.”