Kathleen Cronin

Kathleen M. Cronin serves as a Senior Managing Director, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of CME Group. CME Group is the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, handling 3 billion contracts worth approximately $1 quadrillion annually, on average. She is responsible for leading the company’s Legal, Regulatory, Risk and Compliance functions. Ms. Cronin oversees more than 250 employees located in Chicago, New York, London and Singapore.

Ms. Cronin has advised CME Group on all legal and regulatory matters since joining the company in November 2002. She was an integral part of CME’s evolution from a mutual organization to a public company with $3.6 billion in annual revenue. She also played a key role in the company’s transformative acquisitions of The Chicago Board of Trade in 2007 and the New York Mercantile Exchange in 2008. Additionally, Ms Cronin has been instrumental in advancing CME Group’s regulatory agenda through the company’s international expansion and the global financial reform initiatives arising out of the financial crisis.

Ms. Cronin is also a member of the Board of Directors of Kemper Corporation, one of the nation’s leading insurers with more than $11 billion in assets.  Kemper offers insurance for auto, home, life, health and valuables, servicing approximately seven million policies throughout the United States.

Ms. Cronin is the Chairperson of the Kemper Compensation Committee and serves as a member of the Audit Committee.  She previoulsy served as a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee.

Before joining CME, Ms. Cronin served as corporate counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP for 11 years. Ms. Cronin advised clients in connection with public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters. She also served as Chief Counsel/Corporate Finance for Sara Lee Corp. advising the company on a range of matters, including international acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and financing activities. 

Ms. Cronin earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, summa cum laude, from Boston College in 1985 and a JD degree, cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law in 1989.