London, 7 February 2011

LCH.Clearnet Ltd (LCH.Clearnet), the world’s leading independent clearing house, is set to clear for Cleartrade Exchange*, the first regulated execution venue for OTC cleared freight and commodity derivatives.

For the first time, screen traded OTC freight and commodity derivatives will be processed real time into clearing.  Transactions will be fed directly to LCH.Clearnet, significantly cutting the clearing cycle from half an hour down to a fraction of a second.

Isabella Kurek-Smith, Director of LCH.Clearnet, said: “We have worked closely with Cleartrade Exchange to integrate our robust technologies, bringing a significantly faster and more efficient clearing process for these growing OTC markets. The introduction of screen trading, coupled with direct clearing, will lead to increased transparency and liquidity.”

Richard Baker, Managing Director of Cleartrade Exchange, said: “We have a strong partnership with LCH.Clearnet and are pleased to have integrated our respective technologies for efficient trade flow with such an important industry player. This is a significant move for the OTC commodities market.”

Cleartrade Exchange provides participants in freight and commodity markets with electronic order input, management and processing of OTC swaps into nominated clearing houses such as LCH.Clearnet.

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