The Chicago Exchange, also known as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (MERC), is a global derivatives marketplace based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the world's largest financial derivatives exchange, offering a wide range of products including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, and metals. The exchange is also home to the world's most actively traded currency futures contracts. The acronym MERC is commonly used to refer to the Chicago Exchange.