Wall Street Veteran Mike Dennis Takes Helm of CME Group's Fixed Income Division

CME Group has tapped industry veteran Mike Dennis to head its global fixed income operations. The Chicago-based exchange operator announced the appointment on Monday, signalling a new chapter in its management of some of the world's most actively traded financial instruments.

Dennis, who brings over two decades of interest rate trading experience to the role, will oversee CME's crown jewels: the futures and options contracts on SOFR and U.S. Treasuries. including the 30-year bond, 10-, 5- and 2-year notes that enable investors to manage risk across the entire U.S. yield curve. He will also lead BrokerTec, the world's most liquid electronic cash trading platform for U.S Treasury benchmarks, E.U., U.K. and U.S. Repo trading. 

Dennis will report to CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy and serve on the company's Management Team. He will resign from the CME Group Board of Directors effective immediately and begin this position with the company on August 5.

The appointment comes at a time of growth for CME's interest rates business, which saw a 14% increase in the second quarter. Terry Duffy, CME Group's Chairman and CEO, expressed confidence in Dennis's ability to further this momentum, stating: “We are extremely pleased to add the expertise of Mike Dennis, a long-time industry professional, to our leadership team to oversee our significant and growing interest rates business. As a former trader himself, Mike's deep trading, clearing and prime brokerage knowledge, as well as his hands-on markets experience, will bring a unique perspective to this role that will benefit our clients and our organization.”

Tim McCourt will lead all the company's other financial business lines including equity indexes, foreign exchange and cryptocurrency futures and options, as well as its EBS spot FX platform, as Global Head, Equities, FX, and Alternative Products. He will continue to serve on the company's Management Team reporting to Duffy.

Duffy emphasised the importance of McCourt's ongoing role, stating, ""At the same time, we will continue to rely on Tim's oversight of our other financial asset classes including equities, FX and crypto as those markets continue to expand to new users around the globe."

As part of his new position, Dennis will resign from the CME Group Board of Directors, effective immediately. He is set to begin his new role on August 5, reporting directly to Duffy and serving on the company's Management Team.

With 22 years of interest rate trading experience, Dennis joins CME Group from ABN AMRO Clearing USA LLC, where he served as Principal, member of the Management Team, and Chief Commercial Officer of ABN AMRO Clearing in the U.S., one of CME Group's largest global futures clearing firms, since 2018. During his tenure at ABN AMRO, Dennis was instrumental in helping the firm launch a fixed income clearing and repo initiative for cash Treasuries as a member of the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC). 

Prior to that, Dennis was Director of Prime Brokerage and Clearing Services at Societe Generale. He also worked in clearing at Advantage Futures, served as an interest rate trader at Peak 6 Investments and acted as a market-maker in back-month Eurodollar futures and cash Treasuries for a proprietary trading firm in CME open outcry and electronic markets in the early 2000s. Dennis began his career in 2002 in the Corporate Investment Banking Division of JP Morgan Chase Chicago. Additionally, he has served on several market oversight committees as a member and former member of the CME and CBOT exchanges, respectively. 

Dennis holds a B.S. in finance from Marquette University. He also has Series 3, 63, 7 and 24 licenses. Residing on the North Shore near Chicago with his wife and three children, Dennis is active within the community and with many philanthropic causes including Misericordia Heart of Mercy, Danny Did Foundation, A Leg to Stand on and CURE (Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy).

Providing the deepest liquidity and most efficiencies for hedging the entire yield curve, CME Group interest rate market includes benchmark futures and options products in U.S. Treasuries, SOFR, Fed Funds, TBAs and €STR.