Subject:  named derivatives exchange of the year
 named derivatives exchange of the year
atlanta , ga ( january 23 , 2002 ) - , one of the world ' s most liquid and fastest growing commodity marketplaces , has been named derivatives exchange of the year for 2002 by risk magazine . the risk awards recognize excellence and innovation in the fast - changing risk management and over - the - counter derivatives businesses . intercontinental was selected for its phenomenal performance in 2001 in light of the difficult year experienced by many trading platforms in the global energy sector .
" the intercontinental organization has experienced a tremendous year , " said jeff sprecher , ceo of , who was also recently named as one of the top entrepreneurs of 2001 by businessweek magazine . " to be named derivatives exchange of the year is a testament to the extremely talented group surrounding me at intercontinental , who are successfully advancing a very powerful business model . "
intercontinental experienced tremendous growth and reached numerous milestones in 2001 . with the acquisition of international petroleum exchange of london ( ipe ) , europe ' s leading energy futures and options exchange , ice added a broad range of exchange - traded energy - based futures and options markets to its extensive roster of energy and metals - based over - the - counter ( otc ) derivatives markets .
in august 2001 , intercontinental signed an agreement to offer optional clearing services to its otc market participants with the london clearing house ( lch ) . with this service , intercontinental will be uniquely positioned to offer market participants the option to utilize clearing services for global energy and metals transactions .
coupled with the july 2001 closing of its acquisition of the ipe , intercontinental will
be the world ' s first exchange organization to offer a full spectrum of risk management products ranging from traditional bi - lateral otc agreements to cleared otc products to exchange - traded futures and options on futures .
the past year also saw intercontinental make its move into the european otc gas and power markets with the introduction of markets for uk natural gas - related products in december 2001 . to support this expansion , ice entered into agreements
with a number of leading firms engaged in the sale and trading of uk natural gas .
in addition to expanding its product offerings in 2001 , intercontinental experienced
rapid and substantial growth . the past year saw intercontinental increase the number of participating firms and users by more than 400 % . equally impressive , the number of trades executed on the exchange grew 15 fold over that same period .
intercontinental will receive the award at the risk awards presentation dinner on
february 28 th in new york . the proceeds of the dinner will go to risk waters group world trade appeal fund .
about
 is one of the world ' s most liquid and fastest growing electronic commodity marketplace , owned by over 100 of the world ' s leading energy and metals traders , brokers and bankers .
the exchange electronic trading system is installed on over 7 , 500 desktops worldwide from which traders log on each day of the business week to trade more than 600 listed commodity and derivative contract types . broadly , these include crude oil and refined products , natural gas , power , precious metals and emissions allowances . contract forms include physical delivery as well as financially settled swaps , spreads , differentials and options based on a variety of fixed and floating price indices .
based in atlanta ( and with offices in new york , houston , chicago , london and singapore ) , this electronic exchange is taking the technological revolution that occurred in international financial markets and extending it into global commodity markets .
 is the owner of the international petroleum exchange of london ( ipe ) , europe '
leading energy futures and options exchange . the ipe provides highly regulated open outcry and electronic marketplaces where industry participants use futures and options to minimize their price risk exposure in the physical energy market .
products traded on ipe include brent crude futures and options , gas oil futures and options , natural gas futures and electricity ( baseload ) futures .