MIAX Welcomes Industry Veteran Mark Wetjen to Lead Expansion of Futures and Digital Securities Products

Wetjen joins MIAX as Executive Vice President, Futures and Innovative Products and Executive Regulatory Liaison Officer

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH), the parent holding company of the MIAX Options^®, MIAX PEARL^™ and MIAX Emerald^™ options exchanges (the MIAX Exchange Group^™), today announced that Mark Wetjen has joined MIH as Executive Vice President, Futures and Innovative Products of MIH and Executive Regulatory Liaison Officer. He will also serve as the Chief Executive Officer of Miami International Futures Exchange, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of MIH. Wetjen will play a pivotal role in projects relating to the futures business as the MIAX Exchange Group expands from electronic trading of options into cash equities, futures and innovative products, including digital securities and crypto assets and derivatives.

Wetjen brings more than 15 years of financial and regulatory experience to MIAX's senior leadership team. Mr. Wetjen previously served as a Commissioner and acting Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 2011 – 2015. Most recently, he served as a managing director of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, where he successfully led the company's global policy advocacy and chaired the board of directors of Deriv/SERV.

Wetjen has focused his recent professional efforts on the impacts of technology on financial services, providing thought leadership through his writings and serving on advisory boards of think tanks and other tech-focused institutions.

Under former President Barack Obama, Wetjen served as one of five appointed commissioners of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Previously, he served as counsel and senior policy advisor to the Honorable Harry Reid, whom he advised on Wall Street reform, banking, housing, communications, technology and other legislation. 

"We are very pleased to welcome such an experienced industry veteran to our executive team," said Thomas P. Gallagher, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MIH. "Mark is a proven leader and his extensive background will be invaluable to MIH as we seek to establish our presence in the U.S. futures market and expand our product offerings." 

"Mark's strategic and visionary approach, as well as his wealth of knowledge in innovative investment products, will support our continued expansion of new asset class offerings," said Barbara J. Comly, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of MIH.

"MIAX has a demonstrated commitment to offering disruptive investment products and providing the marketplace with choice and innovation," said Wetjen. "I'm eager to join this team to help them continue to expand their offerings to better serve their clients and advance the industry."

Wetjen earned his bachelor's degree from Creighton University, summa cum laude and holds a J.D. from University of Iowa College of Law, with distinction.

MIH also announced today that it plans to open a Washington, D.C. office in Q1 2020.

For further information regarding the MIAX Exchange Group, please visit www.MIAXOptions.com or contact MIAX Trading Operations at TradingOperations@MIAXOptions.com. 

About MIH and the MIAX Exchange Group

Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH) is the parent holding company of Miami International Securities Exchange, LLC (MIAX^®), MIAX PEARL, LLC (MIAX PEARL^®) and MIAX Emerald, LLC (MIAX Emerald™ and together with MIAX and MIAX PEARL, the MIAX Exchange Group^™), three fully electronic options trading exchanges.  

MIAX, MIAX PEARL and MIAX Emerald leverage the MIAX Exchange Group's industry-leading technology and infrastructure to provide their member firms with traditional pricing and pro rata allocation (MIAX), maker-taker pricing and price-time allocation (MIAX PEARL) market structures, and a hybrid market structure with maker-taker pricing and pro rata allocation (MIAX Emerald).

MIAX Options serves as the exclusive exchange venue for cash-settled options on the SPIKES^® Volatility Index (Ticker: SPIKE), a measure of the expected 30-day volatility in the SPDR^® S&P 500^® ETF (SPY).

The MIAX Exchange Group's executive offices and National Operations Center are located in Princeton, NJ, with additional offices located in Miami, FL.

MIH also owns a controlling interest in the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

To learn more about MIH and the MIAX Exchange Group visit www.MIAXOptions.com. 

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The press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities of Miami International Holdings, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, the Company), and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer; solicitation or sale would be unlawful. This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. 

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