(NAPSI)—After four weeks of hands-on competition among undergraduate and graduate students across the globe, CME Group announced the winners of its 13^th annual Trading Challenge. The top four teams represent Nanyang Polytechnic in Yio Chu Kang, Singapore; Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa.; Concordia University in Montreal, Canada; and the University of Colorado Boulder in Boulder, Colo.

This is the first time a Singaporean team has won the Trading Challenge and the third year in a row that the winning team has been from a university outside the United States. This year, nearly 500 teams made up of more than 1,800 students from 30 countries around the world competed.

During the competition, student teams trade a variety of CME Group futures contracts from multiple asset classes—including agriculture, energy, interest rates and metals—in a simulated trading environment on a real-time professional trading platform provided by CQG.

“CME Group is committed to education and innovation for the next generation of traders and market participants,” said Anita Liskey, CME Group’s Managing Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications. “Understanding the significance of our markets in today’s interconnected global economy is more critical than ever and we’re pleased that so many students from around the world continue to participate.”

In addition to a cash prize, winners are invited to attend a one-day market education conference at CME Group in April.

To learn more about the Trading Challenge, visit www.cmegroup.com/tradingchallenge. Registration for next year’s competition will open in the fall.

CME Group also provides education tools via Futures Fundamentals, an innovative website that offers a trading simulator year-round and explains the role of futures markets in everyday life.

On the Net:North American Precis Syndicate, Inc.(NAPSI)