ELX Electronic Liquidity Exchange Selects Options Clearing Corporation for Clearing and Delivery Services for the New Exchange

NEW YORK, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ – ELX Electronic Liquidity Exchange (ELX), a fully electronic futures exchange formed by leading financial institutions, and The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), the world’s largest derivatives clearing organization, today announced the signing of an agreement for OCC to provide clearing and delivery services for ELX.

“We chose OCC because of its financial strength, its 35 years of clearing experience and its extensive service offering,” said Neal L. Wolkoff, CEO of ELX. “Selecting the right clearinghouse is another essential step toward building a world-class futures exchange that will keep trading costs low, spur innovation and ensure the deep liquidity prized by the market.”

“As a new exchange, ELX has the opportunity to engage best-of-breed service providers at every stage of development to meet the demands of the high-volume, computer driven strategies of today’s market participants,” continued Wolkoff. “The OCC offers the right capabilities to support ELX’s planned launch of electronic trading in U.S. interest rate futures, plus the ability to accommodate our growth plans.”

“We are very pleased to have been selected as the clearinghouse for ELX,” said Wayne P. Luthringshausen, OCC Chairman and CEO. “OCC welcomes the opportunity to assist ELX with its mission to bring enhanced liquidity and reliability to the global futures market. OCC has a long history of providing a solid foundation for exchange competition that benefits the marketplace, a tradition that continues with ELX.”

The agreement calls for OCC to provide ELX with all its clearing and delivery services, starting with U.S. interest rate futures.

About ELX

ELX Electronic Liquidity Exchange (ELX) was established as a competitive alternative serving global futures market participants. Its mission is to bring enhanced liquidity, cost-effectiveness, and reliability to global future trading. Investors in ELX include Bank of America, Barclays Capital, BGC Partners, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, GETCO, J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch, PEAK6-Breakwater and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

About OCC

OCC, founded in 1973, is the world’s largest derivatives clearing organization and was the first clearinghouse to receive a ‘AAA’ credit rating from Standard & Poor’s Corporation. Operating under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, OCC provides clearing and settlement services for the American Stock Exchange, Boston Options Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, CBOE Futures Exchange, International Securities Exchange, NASDAQ Options Market, NASDAQ OMX PHLX, NYSE Arca, NYSE Liffe, OneChicago and Philadelphia Board of Trade. More information about OCC is available through its Web site at www.optionsclearing.com.

SOURCE ELX Electronic Liquidity Exchange