http://www.reuters.com/article/etfNews/idUSWEN315120071221 NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A dozen investment firms, including Bank of America (BAC.N) JPMorgan (JPM.N), Merrill Lynch (MER.N) and Chicago hedge fund firm Citadel Investment Group, have joined together to launch a new futures exchange, a company spokesman said on Friday. The group also includes Barclay's (BARC.L) Barclay Capital, Citigroup (C.N), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), eSpeed (ESPD.O), GETCO LLC, PEAK6 and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L). It was formed to create a competitive alternative in the futures market. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the consortium was forming the exchange to compete against the CME Group's (CME.N) Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The group's spokesman declined to comment on CME.