CME Group Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the CME Group Third Quarter 2019 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. John Pescher. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning and thank you all for joining us. I'm going to start with a safe harbor language. Then I'll turn it over to Terry and John for brief remarks followed by your questions. Statements made on this call and in the other documents on our website that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance. They involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or implied in any statements. More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance can be found in our filings with the SEC, which are on our website. Also, on the last page of the earnings release, you will find a reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP measures. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Terry.

Thanks, John. And as John said, I want to thank you all for joining us this morning. My comments will be brief, so we can get right to your questions. We released our executive commentary this morning, which provided extensive details on the third quarter. In Q3, average daily volume grew to more than 20 million contracts per day, up 30% compared to Q3 last year. Normally, the months of July and August are slow, so we're pleased with the activity this year. We delivered record quarterly average daily volume in metals products, which rose 32%. Average daily volume in interest rates and equities were each up more than 35%. Our options business continues to perform very well. During the third quarter, our options volume reached 4.1 million contracts per day, or up 32%. We drove significant growth from customers based outside the United States. During the third quarter, volume originating from Asia reached a record level of 1.2 million contracts per day, up 61%. Volume from European-based customers increased by 34% versus Q3 last year and was the third-best quarter overall with records in medals and equities. Lastly, the activity from Latin America has accelerated. We had 152,000 contracts per day during the quarter, the second highest in our history. We continued to deliver successful new product rollouts. Our popular micro e-minis ADV grew 35% sequentially from Q2 to Q3. We reached a monthly record in our new SOFR contract in September with 58,000 contracts traded and a daily record in mid-September of more than 150,000 contracts traded. New products announced recently include the e-mini S&P ESG futures, U.S. liquefied natural gas export futures, and also we developed a bilateral pricing agreement between CME and the Shanghai Gold Exchange. Turning to the next integration, we are pleased with how it is progressing. we have made great progress leveraging the joint sales teams to enable cross-selling and to offer the full portfolio of products and services. We are also beginning to combine the office space around the world, which should assist with generating revenue synergies at a lower cost. We remain laser-focused on this very strategic transaction and look forward to keeping you updated on our progress. With that, let me turn the call over to John to provide you with some additional comments.