EuroCCP Reduces Clearing Fees to 5 Euro Cents

London, 30 March 2009 - EuroCCP's current clearing fees will be reduced from six euro cents to five euro cents per side, effective April 1.

The lowering of fees comes at a time when increasing competition in trading is highlighting the importance of the all-in cost advantage of trading venues that use efficient, low-cost and robust central counterparties.

The new fee structure puts EuroCCP's fees at the lowest fee level charged for clearing in Europe. It will apply to all trades submitted to EuroCCP for clearing and settlement. EuroCCP currently clears and settles trades executed on the Turquoise, NYSE Arca Europe and SmartPool trading platforms.

EuroCCP is the only central counterparty in Europe that is user-governed and that operates at cost. Its business purpose is to increase efficiency, reduce costs and reduce risks for trading platforms and firms. The EuroCCP board of directors is comprised mainly of representatives from its participant firms.

The new fee will apply to all transactions (or sides) up to an average daily number of 800,000 from all participants. Above 800,000 sides, EuroCCP fees will drop by 50%, to 2.5 euro cents per side.

"We recognise that all-inclusive, low-cost trading, clearing and settlement will help the platforms that use EuroCCP to succeed in the competition to attract more order flow," said Diana Chan, CEO of EuroCCP. "While EuroCCP's fees have always been among the lowest in Europe, we want to give the trading platforms and clearing firms who use EuroCCP the biggest price advantage we can. Lowering our current fees even further was an appropriate step to take in this very competitive environment. Naturally, any platform that appoints EuroCCP will benefit from our low cost and robust, battle-tested risk management."

In 2008, EuroCCP published a study of clearing costs, based on publicly available information on pricing under the voluntary Code of Conduct for clearing and settlement's requirement for price transparency. The study showed that the average clearing price per side of a transaction in Europe was 26 euro cents, or over eight times more than EuroCCP's average fees. That study is available on EuroCCP's web site at http://www.euroccp.co.uk/docs/cost_comparison_study.pdf and http://www.euroccp.co.uk/docs/cost_comparison_chart.pdf.

About EuroCCP

European Central Counterparty Limited (EuroCCP) is a UK-incorporated, FSA-regulated Recognised Clearing House. It is the European subsidiary of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and is headquartered in London. EuroCCP was formed to provide clearing and settlement services for a wide range of trading venues across Europe, offering the scale economies of the US market to European market participants. It currently clears equity trades in 15 countries and in seven different currencies. EuroCCP has been appointed to provide central counterparty services by Turquoise, SmartPool, and NYSE Arca Europe for equity trades, and SecFinex for securities lending and borrowing transactions. Market participants can trade equities on any venue EuroCCP supports and have their transactions netted for settlement and/or margin purposes for the same security traded on the same day, thereby reducing costs and operational risks.

About DTCC

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), through its subsidiaries, provides clearance, settlement and information services for equities, corporate and municipal bonds, government and mortgage-backed securities, money market instruments and over-the-counter derivatives.

In addition, DTCC is a leading processor of mutual funds and insurance transactions, linking funds and carriers with financial firms and third parties who market these products. DTCC's depository provides custody and asset servicing for more than 3.5 million securities issues from the United States and 117 other countries and territories, valued at $27.6 trillion. Last year, DTCC settled more than $1.88 quadrillion in securities transactions. DTCC has operating facilities in multiple locations in the United States and overseas. For more information on DTCC, visit www.dtcc.com.