To ensure that the contractual obligations on both sides of a trade are fulfilled, CME is structured so that it conducts business only with officially designated transaction partners called clearing members.

Although many different customers trade at CME, all trades are ultimately conducted between CME and a clearing member. CME serves as the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer, with a clearing member assuming the opposite side of each trade. In so doing, clearing members essentially vouch that the financial obligations will be met for all trades matched and executed in CME facilities.

Accordingly, clearing members carry full financial and performance responsibility for all trades executed through them. They are responsible for every position they carry, whether for their own account or the account of a member or non-member customer.

Clearing members can be corporations, partnerships or cooperative associations. They must meet specific requirements and be elected to membership in the CME Clearing House. The Clearing House is the division of CME that confirms, matches and settles all CME trades on a daily basis.

Clearing membership is a privilege granted by the CME Board of Directors. By granting this privilege and overseeing its clearing members, CME assures performance on each contract and thereby protects both buyers and sellers from financial loss due to default by one of the parties involved in a trade.