THE CHICAGO Mercantile Exchange group has confirmed it will create up to 90 jobs in Northern Ireland when it opens its first office in Belfast this year.

The group first announced details of its proposed investment in the North last January, but at the time declined to expand on how many positions it was likely to create.

The group, with headquarters in Chicago, describes itself as the “largest and most diverse derivatives marketplace”.

It specialises in providing a wide range of benchmark futures and options products available on any exchange and covering all major asset classes.

It is believed that the North’s First and Deputy First Ministers, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, helped persuade the American company to consider Northern Ireland as a location during an inward investment mission to the US in September 2011.

Last week, CME posted first-quarter revenues of $775 million and operating income of $451 million.

The group said that during the first quarter, its global trading volumes had been “impacted by low levels of volatility” and it had seen operating costs increase.

Senior representatives from the group believe the Belfast office will help the group rebalance its costs. A spokesman said its new Belfast centre would specifically help it “meet the growing international needs of our business”.

The group said the technology-focused centre, which is expected to open shortly, would also enable it to “work more closely with employees and customers in the European and Asian time zones”.

Although the group has said it believes that the projected workforce of up to 90 people will meet its current business needs, it is not ruling out future investment in Northern Ireland.

“As the needs of our business grow, we would certainly consider adding more positions,” a representative said.