SecFinex and LCH.Clearnet to launch first Central Counterparty for Stock Borrowing and Lending

Paris, London, September 16, 2008 - SecFinex Limited, the leading European electronic trading platform for equity finance, and LCH.Clearnet, the leading European independent central counterparty (CCP), today announced that they will be working together to launch central counterparty services for stock borrowing and lending across the SecFinex Order Market multilateral trading facility for Euronext markets.  This will include stock loan transactions in France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Portugal.  

This is the first time that stock borrowing and lending markets will be able to take advantage of the services offered by a central counterparty. Market participants will benefit from reduced risk, complete trading anonymity and operational efficiencies.

The CCP directed trades on the SecFinex marketplace will eliminate bi-lateral credit risk between lender and borrower, will lower the administration costs associated with maintaining multiple credit agreements and will significantly reduce the capital required to support stock loan transactions.  The introduction of LCH.Clearnet’s CCP services is likely to significantly increase market volumes and will enable market participants, through the general clearing arrangements, to access more markets and new counterparties.

SecFinex and LCH.Clearnet will launch the revised offering in June 2009.  Both user groups and leading investment organisations have been widely consulted in planning the service to ensure it meets users’ needs.

Christophe Hémon, CEO of LCH.Clearnet SA, said, “Recent market events have highlighted the vital role a CCP can play.  We are delighted to be working with SecFinex on this innovative project. It underlines our desire and capacity to respond to complex and new market expectations, whilst our users will benefit from increased trading opportunities.”

Peter Fenichel, CEO of SecFinex, said, “We are delighted to partner with LCH.Clearnet in this very important evolutionary move to enhance SBL market efficiency, transparency and transaction activity. We believe the introduction of a CCP in Euronext markets will establish the basis for extending this model across all European markets.  The investment and support from NYSE Euronext will position SecFinex as the leader in these key markets and encourage further market developments which will reduce capital requirements and lower risk for borrowers and lenders.”

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Media Contacts

SecFinex
Robert S. Reynolds    
Managing Director, Global Head of Sales - Tel: +44 20 7002 1703

NYSE Euronext
Paris:Tel: +33 1 49 27 11 33

LCH.Clearnet
Pierre-Dominique Renard – Director CMM Infrastructure, Customer & Market - +33 (0)1 70 37 66 99
Media Contact: Catherine Gully - +33 (0)1 70 37 66 24

About SecFinex

SecFinex is the online global marketplace for Securities Lending. SecFinex enables participants to agree stock loan trades efficiently and anonymously with each other on a price driven system. Traders can hit bids and lift offers on a click and done basis and view current market trading activity in a live screen-based trading environment. SecFinex is the only true marketplace to offer such price transparency to Securities Lending traders.
Through SecFinex electronic platforms, securities financing professionals can meet and execute trades in all major European, US and Japanese equity markets. Over 40 financial institutions currently participate in SecFinex, a cross-section of lenders, borrowers and intermediaries, including some of the major securities finance players in Europe.
SecFinex Limited is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority, please visit www.secfinex.com

About LCH.Clearnet

LCH.Clearnet is the leading independent central counterparty (CCP) group in Europe serving major international exchanges and platforms, equity, exchange-traded derivatives, energy, interbank interest rate swaps markets and the majority of the Euro-denominated and sterling bond and repo markets.

About NYSE Euronext

NYSE Euronext (NYX) operates the world’s leading and most liquid exchange group, and seeks to provide the highest levels of quality, customer choice and innovation. Its family of exchanges, located in six countries, includes the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest cash equities market; Euronext, the Eurozone's largest cash equities market; Liffe, Europe's leading derivatives exchange by value of trading; and NYSE Arca Options, one of the fastest growing U.S. options trading platforms. NYSE Euronext offers a diverse array of financial products and services for issuers, investors and financial institutions in cash equities, options and derivatives, ETFs, bonds, market data, and commercial technology solutions. As the world’s largest exchange group by number of listings and market capitalization, NYSE Euronext is home to over 6,400 listed companies representing a combined $26.7 / 17.1€ trillion (as of June 30, 2008), in total global market capitalization more than four times that of any other exchange group. NYSE Euronext's equity exchanges transact an average daily trading value of approximately $157.0 /102.7€ billion (as of June 30, 2008), which represents more than one-third of the world's cash equities trading. NYSE Euronext is part of the S&P 500 index and the only exchange operator in the S&P 100 index.  For more information and free real-time stock prices for all NYSE-listed securities, please visit www.nyx.com.