Most of the trades cleared by EuroCCP are expected to come from the Turquoise platform. EuroCCP will also clear and settle trades in Spain for SmartPool, a new exchange-led, European dark pool for block trading established by the NYSE Euronext, HSBC, BNP Paribas and J.P. Morgan.

One hundred of the most commonly traded equity issues from Spain are eligible to be cleared through EuroCCP. EuroCCP now clears for 15 national markets in Europe and plans to continue to expand into additional European markets throughout 2009.

"Spain represents the latest market to be added by EuroCCP following our initial launch of 14 countries in 2008," said Diana Chan, CEO of EuroCCP. "Our objective now is to continue to expand the platforms and markets we support so all our participants can benefit from the reduced costs provided by our business model."

EuroCCP's clearing costs are currently among the lowest in Europe. The organisation provides clearing and settlement services for multiple platforms and provides a robust level of risk management and protection for its participants.

With this latest expansion, EuroCCP now clears and settles trades in: Austria, Belgium, France, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden and Spain. Settlement can be done in seven currencies: the euro, British pound, U.S. dollar, Swiss franc, Danish krone, Swedish krona, and Norwegian krone.

The average daily volume of transactions has risen recently to close to 400,000 transaction sides in January, Chan said, as a result of growing volumes of trades being executed on the Turquoise platform. EuroCCP provides among the lowest costs for clearing and settlement in Europe, and as volume rises, unit costs for all users are going to decrease. SmartPool trades began clearing through EuroCCP in early February.