CME Group revives plan for Malaysian joint venture

CME Group Inc. (CME) announced plans for a joint venture with Bursa Malaysia Bhd that would revive a stalled push into the palm oil market, a key renewable fuel and food product. The Chicago-based derivatives exchange operator plans to swap minority stakes with Bursa Malaysia’s own futures unit and promote palm oil contracts outside Southeast Asia. Malaysia is the world’s second-largest producer of palm oil, and the Kuala Lumpur Exchange has built up the most liquid futures contract in the commodity. An effort by the Chicago Board of Trade to enter the market in partnership with Singapore Exchange Ltd. fizzled in 2007, shortly after the U.S. group was acquired by CME. The proposed equity swap would be the first by CME in Asia. (August 12, 2009)