U.S. Treasury bills, considered risk-free debt instruments, provide the foundation for the money markets and are seen as reflecting “pure” interest rate movements. CME 13-week Treasury Bill futures were launched in 1976 and were the first CME interest rate futures contract. These products track the cash U.S. Treasury bill market and settle to the weekly U.S. Treasury bill auction rate.

Advantages of CME Interest Rate Markets

• Concentrated liquidity - More than 1.5 million CME interest rate futures trade every day resulting in consistently tight spreads
• Price transparency - At CME, trading transactions take place in an open, fair and anonymous trading environment with market prices universally available in real time
• Market integrity - CME Clearing serves as counterparty to every trade protecting the financial integrity of CME markets
• Regulatory assurance - The highest trading standards and supervision are assured through the integrated compliance and market surveillance functions of CME