LCH.Clearnet to clear for NASDAQ OMX Europe

London,  October 14 2009

LCH.Clearnet Limited has been selected to clear for NASDAQ OMX Europe (“NEURO”), NASDAQ OMX’s pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF).

Through its EquityClear service, LCH.Clearnet Limited will clear circa 1,000 European blue-chip stocks which are currently traded on NEURO’s proven, low latency matching engine, INET.

Wayne Eagle, Director, Equity Services, LCH.Clearnet said; “Customers want real choice in clearing and we are delighted to compete on the basis of the quality of our service and competitive pricing structure.  We look forward to working with NASDAQ OMX in building NEURO’s future success.”

Charlotte Crosswell, President of NASDAQ OMX Europe commented, “NEURO fully supports the progress of interoperability between clearing firms in Europe. Through this new agreement with LCH.Clearnet, our customers will be able to benefit from increased competitive choice on the post-trade side of their transactions.”

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To view the press release as a pdf please click here.

LCH.Clearnet is the leading independent clearing house group, serving major international exchanges and platforms, as well as a range of OTC markets.  It clears a broad range of asset classes including: securities, exchange traded derivatives, energy, freight, interbank interest rate swaps and euro and sterling denominated bonds and repos; and  works closely with market participants and exchanges to identify and develop clearing services for new asset classes.

A clearing house sits in the middle of a trade, assuming the counterparty risk involved when two parties (or members) trade.  When the trade is registered with a clearing house, it becomes the legal counterparty to the trade, ensuring the financial performance; if one of the parties fails, the clearing house steps in.  By assuming the counterparty risk, the clearing house underpins many important financial markets, facilitating trading and increasing confidence within the market.

Initial and variation margin (or collateral) is collected from clearing members; should they fail, this margin is used to fulfill their obligations.  The amount of margin is decided by the clearing house’s highly experienced risk management teams, who assess a member’s positions and market risk on a daily basis.  Both the soundness of the risk management approach and the resilience of its systems have been proven in recent times.

LCH.Clearnet is regulated or overseen by the national securities regulator and/or central bank in each jurisdiction from which it operates.

About  NASDAQ OMX Europe

NASDAQ OMX Europe (NEURO), the most competitively priced multilateral trading facility in Europe, is the first platform to connect European liquidity pools with Pan-European routing. NEURO currently trades approximately 1000 securities including constituents of the main European indices, ETFs and other highly liquid securities. For more information about NEURO, visit www.nasdaqomxeurope.com.

NEURO and NEURO Dark are trading names of NASDAQ OMX Europe Limited, which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Insofar as the content of this communication is considered a financial promotion for the purposes of section 21 FSMA 2000, it is not communicated or approved by a person authorized under FSMA.

This communication is directed only at persons to whom NASDAQ OMX Europe may lawfully make financial promotions (Relevant Persons) including persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments who are "investment professionals" within the meaning of article 19 of the FSMA (Financial Promotion) Order of 2005. This communication must not be distributed to, acted on or relied upon by persons who are not Relevant Persons.

About the NASDAQ OMX Group

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world’s largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with over 3,800 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX Group offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market; NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, including First North; and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and ETFs. NASDAQ OMX Group technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX Group exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about NASDAQ OMX's products and offerings. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited to factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that the FSA will give the NASDAQ OMX applicant the authorization and permissions which it seeks.

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