Following his appointment as Chairman of LCH.Clearnet Group Ltd, Mr. Tupker offered his resignation as a Director and Euroclear Chairman with effect from 31 July 2006.

The Euroclear Boards have accepted Mr. Tupker's resignation and agreed that Nigel Wicks, who had been appointed in March to succeed Chris Tupker as the new Euroclear Chairman as of 1 January 2007, will take over Chris Tupker's responsibilities earlier than planned.

In announcing his resignation, Mr. Tupker said: "I want to be able to devote myself fully to my new responsibilities at LCH.Clearnet and am, therefore, resigning as Euroclear Chairman earlier than planned. I can do so with confidence because the Euroclear Board has already provided for an orderly transition by electing Nigel Wicks as my successor earlier this year. Since Nigel has worked closely with me and the Board as our Deputy Chairman for the past four years, the hand-over process can be short. Euroclear staff, shareholders, users and other stakeholders are in excellent hands with Nigel as Chairman. I wish him and Euroclear all the very best for the future."

In commenting on Mr. Tupker's decision, Nigel Wicks noted; "I and the whole Board wish to pay tribute to Chris for his great accomplishments and strong stewardship of Euroclear during the past six years.

Without Chris it would have been difficult for Euroclear to successfully manage, in just a few years, the challenging transition to what Euroclear is today. From what was in 2000 a mainly fixed-income securities settlement service provider, operated under contract by Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York, Euroclear has become the world's largest fully integrated, user-owned and user-governed provider of domestic and cross-border settlement and related services for bond, equity and fund transactions. I am joined by all the members of the Board in thanking Chris for his great contribution to Euroclear and to the market. We wish him success in his new endeavors at such a key service provider for the market as LCH.Clearnet," Nigel Wicks continued.