Mr. Palha da Silva was appointed as an independent member of NYSE Euronext's board effective Aug. 1, 2012, pending regulatory approval.

Mr. Palha da Silva joined Jerónimo Martins in 2001 as CFO, served as the company's CEO and CFO from 2004-2010, and since April 2012 has been a non-executive board member and head of the group's corporate governance committee. Prior to that he was head of strategic planning and later CFO at CIMPOR - Cimentos de Portugal during 1995-2001. Mr. Palha da Silva served as Secretary of State for Trade for the Portuguese government during 1992-1995.

"Luís' exceptional experience across the corporate, government and regulatory sectors gives him a broad and deep understanding of corporate governance and the role of vibrant, transparent capital markets in global economic growth," said NYSE Euronext Chairman Jan-Michiel Hessels. "My fellow directors and I welcome Luís to the board and are looking forward to working with him."

As CFO at Jerónimo Martins, Mr. Palha da Silva played a pivotal role in the group's successful business and financial turnaround. During his time as both CEO and CFO, the group's business activities strengthened further and the companies currently are all leaders in their respective markets. At CIMPOR he launched a major overhaul of the company's business portfolio and conducted its extensive internationalization process. As Secretary of State for Trade, Mr. Palha da Silva was responsible for Portugal's external trade and the supervision of the Investment and Foreign Trade, Food Safety and Anti-Trust national agencies.

Mr. Palha da Silva's professional activities include serving as chairman of the Portuguese Capital Market Issuers Association (AEM); and as a member of the Forum for the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (SME of CMVM).

Mr. Palha da Silva has a bachelor's in Economics from the Instituto Superior de Economia and a bachelor's in's in Business and Administration fr from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. He has also completed the Advanced Management Program at the Wharton School of Economics.