The International Monetary Market (IMM) is one of the four divisions of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) – the biggest futures exchange in the US.
It trades foreign exchange, interest rate and equity index futures, and all IOM (Index and Option Market) and GEM (Growth and Emerging Markets) products.
The International Monetary Market was created in 1972, under the direction of exchange chairman Leo Melamed, following the monetary problems caused by the collapse of the Bretton Woods System. The aim was to facilitate trading in international financial futures, which was then it its infancy.
As the CME reckoned that its target customers – the majority of them corporate financial decision makers – had mostly not taken part in futures markets before, they created the IMM separately.
When the International Monetary Market was originally founded it accepted 500 charter members. In 1976 the number of charter members was capped at 750.
The International Monetary Market provides a forum for currency and interest rate futures and options. It quotes the number of U.S. currency units necessary to buy a unit of a foreign currency.
Currencies that are currently exchanged on the IMM include the British pound sterling, the Canadian dollar, the Swiss franc, and the Euro.
Prices are quoted in American dollars, except for the euro and the yen. The euro quote is based on an IMM index and the yen is quoted in cents.
The International Monetary Market also trades other securities such as the U.S. Consumer Price Index, the London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR), and the 10-year Japanese bond.
The International Monetary Market is regulated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
According to Nasdaq’s Investing Glossary, the International Monetary Market is “A division of the CME established in 1972 for trading financial futures.”