The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Trust was established by CME in 1969, under the direction of its then chairman, Leo Melamed, to provide financial protection to customers in the event a CME member firm became insolvent or unable to meet its obligations to its customers. However, no CME customer has ever suffered losses due to a member's adverse financial condition. In 2005, the CME Trust received approval to distribute the net income of the Trust to public charities. The CME Trust expects to make charitable contributions of approximately $3 million annually.