ICE Clear Europe Clears Euro 51 Billion in Third Week of European CDS Processing; Announces New CDS Clearing Member

September 13th, 2009 LONDON - VocaLink, the international payments specialist, today announced the opening of its European centre in the World Trade Center, Amsterdam, in response to its growing customer base in the Benelux region. The new Dutch centre underpins VocaLink's commitment to supporting clients in their local markets, whilst recognising that payment systems must provide international capabilities.

September 7th, 2009 NEW YORK - IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today announced that it will deliver trade date clearing, concurrent with the launch of its segregated funds credit derivatives clearing solution for CDX, followed by segregated funds and trade date clearing for iTraxx. Trade date clearing enables positions to be cleared on the same day the trade occurred, which significantly reduces the time that a buy-side firm has counterparty exposure to a clearing member, and will simplify operational processes and overhead associated with CDS trading.

September 2nd, 2009 NEW YORK - IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today announced that BNP Paribas was approved as a clearing member of ICE Trust U.S. (ICE Trust(TM)) and is actively clearing beginning this week.

August 9th, 2009 LONDON - IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today announced ICE Clear Europe(R) cleared 699 transactions totaling euro 31.9 billion (US$45.2 billion) in credit default swap (CDS) indexes during the week of August 3. Open interest reached euro 1.5 billion (US$2.1 billion).

August 2nd, 2009 LONDON - IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today announced that in its first week of operation, ICE Clear Europe(R) cleared euro5.9 billion (US$8.4 billion) in credit default swap (CDS) indexes. ICE began clearing the iTraxx index contracts on July 27 through ICE Clear Europe's CDS clearing operations.

July 28th, 2009 LONDON - IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, announced that ICE Clear Europe(R) has introduced clearing for European credit default swaps (CDS), beginning with iTraxx contracts, effective this week. ICE's CDS clearing operations are designed to address the operational and risk management needs of the credit market, as well as calls by regulators and policy makers for transparency, standardization and systemic risk reduction.

July 27th, 2009 LONDON - - Experienced European Clearing and Risk Management Executive Named CEO, CME Clearing Europe Limited CME Group (Nasdaq: CME), the world's largest and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that it has named Andrew Lamb to the role of Chief Executive Officer, CME Clearing Europe, subject to approval of CME Group's application to the Financial Services Authority to become a UK Recognised Clearing House (RCH). (Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070712/AQTH147LOGO) In this newly-created position, Lamb will act as a special advisor to CME Group during the RCH approval process and, subject to recognition, will serve as CEO, responsible for the development of strategic initiatives, risk management policies and day-to-day operations for CME Clearing Europe Limited.

July 21st, 2009 NEW YORK - IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, announced today that it has developed a solution that provides segregation of customer funds and positions in credit default swap (CDS) clearing. The solution, which will enable buy-side participation in CDS clearing, is expected to be introduced in October 2009, subject to regulatory approval.

June 22nd, 2009 ZURICH and FRANKFURT, Germany - SIX Group, the Swiss financial market infrastructure provider, will offer a SEPA-compatible direct debit service in cooperation with the SECB Swiss Euro Clearing Bank, Frankfurt, starting November 2, 2009. The offer is aimed at financial institutions in Switzerland and 30 other countries within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) that would like to offer their customers the option of collecting standardized euro direct debits throughout Europe.

April 6th, 2009 AMSTERDAM - European Multilateral Clearing Facility, the European Central Counterparty (CCP), introduces a 40% fee reduction for the UK securities market effective April 14th as part of its strategy of price leadership in Europe EMCF cuts fees by 40% for trades cleared in UK securities as per April 14th, 2009, bringing clearing fees to EUR 0.03 per trade. The move ensures EMCF will maintain price leadership in the European cash equities market.

July 31st, 2009 Credit default swap clearing starts in EUBRUSSELS — Under pressure from the Eropean Union, banks in Europe will start processing complex financial contracts known as credit default swaps through a central clearing house by the end of July, EU regulators said Friday. Swaps offer insurance against securities for lenders worried about a borrower's ability to pay them back.

July 13th, 2009 BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) will send a 100-member team to Afghanistan to monitor the presidential and provincial council elections scheduled to take place Aug 20, according to a statement Monday. The EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) include the 17 core team experts who are already in Afghanistan and will be joined in due course by other observers, EuAsiaNews reported, citing a statement by the European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-member grouping.

April 7th, 2009 LONDON - Fernando Torres wants Euro glory even more than a Premier League winner's medal. Most Liverpool players are desperate to end their 19-year domestic title drought, but Spanish striker Torres said: "Domestic titles are very important but to win the Champions League you are saying 'we are the best team in Europe'.

April 22nd, 2009 IMF says euro zone to shrink 4.2 percent this yearLONDON — The International Monetary Fund is warning that the countries using the euro currency will see their economies shrink 4.2 percent this year. It says next year will be tough as well but that the economy should start bouncing back sometime in 2010.

July 30th, 2009 NYSE Euronext makes loss in 2QPARIS — NYSE Euronext, the trans-Atlantic stock exchange operator, said Thursday it made a loss in the second quarter as it took a contract termination charge connected to the launch of its London-based derivatives clearing platform. The company said it made a net loss for the quarter ended June 30 of $182 million, compared to net profit of $195 million a year earlier.

May 4th, 2009 EU says Europe faces deep and widespread recessionBRUSSELS — The European Union says Europe faces a "deep and widespread recession" and that unemployment will rise sharply over the coming two years. It says both the 27-nation EU and the 16 countries that use the euro currency will shrink 4 percent this year, way more than its previous forecasts.

February 12th, 2009 BRUSSELS - The economies of the European Union (EU) and the eurozone both posted worse-than-expected quarterly drops of 1.5 percent in the final three months of 2008, the EU's statistics office, Eurostat, said Friday. According to Eurostat's preliminary estimate, fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) also shrank year-on-year by a seasonally-adjusted 1.2 percent in the 15-member eurozone and by 1.1 percent in the 27-member EU.

September 9th, 2009 Uruguay clears way for gay adoptionsMONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Uruguay is clearing the way for homosexual couples to adopt children. The Senate's final approval Wednesday makes Uruguay the first country in Latin America to allow gay and lesbian couples the opportunity to adopt.

June 12th, 2009 Euro zone industrial output slumps in AprilLONDON — Industrial production in the 16 countries that use the euro slumped in April, official figures showed Friday, stoking fears that the euro zone remains in the grip of recession despite signs elsewhere that a recovery of sorts may be underway. The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said a 1.9 percent drop in April — the eighth consecutive monthly fall — pushed the annual rate of decline down to a record 21.6 percent.

January 18th, 2009 BRUSSELS - Europe faces a deep and broad recession this year, the European Commission predicted Monday, with economic activity in the 16-strong eurozone set to shrink by 1.9 percent as a result of the world's worst economic crisis since World War II. 'The economic horizon has now significantly darkened as the European Union economy is hit by the financial crisis that deepened during the autumn and is taking a toll on business and consumer confidence,' the European Union's executive arm said in presenting its latest economic forecasts.