LCH Clearnet Ltd already provides clearing for UK instruments traded on Equiduct, offering a seamless transition for existing and new clients to the Equiduct Italian board.

Equiduct has seen growth of 24% on last quarter (vs. Q2 2011) with particular growth in the French and Belgian markets; and is now offering its Best Execution services on the fragmented Italian market, of which more than 20% of trades are now traded on alternative trading platforms. The cost for final investors of trades on MIB40 stocks missing the best price amounts to 15.72M€ for the first 3 quarters of the year.

"Equiduct offers a unique service on stocks traded across several venues: we offer the Pan European best execution price via a single entry point. We are pleased that Equiduct's participants will benefit from the extension of our model on Italian names. I am particularly pleased that LCH Clearnet Ltd were so responsive and commercially flexible in offering this service " says Peter Randall, CEO of Equiduct.

Wayne Eagle, director of LCH Clearnet Ltd commented "We are delighted to be working with Equiduct in Italy and to broaden and enhance our service. Market participants are looking for the efficiencies of scale and market leading risk management, both of which are offered by EquityClear."