* German CSD to sign T2S Framework Agreement on 30 April 2012
* Clearstream well positioned to become a single entry point to T2S on a pan-European scale

Clearstream announced today that the central securities depository (CSD) for Germany, Clearstream Banking AG, will join the European Central Bank’s
TARGET2-Securities (T2S) initiative. T2S is a central pan-European settlement infrastructure platform for the cross-border and domestic settlement of securities against central bank money. The platform will go live in 2015 and aims at significantly reducing the fees for cross-border settlement.

Clearstream Banking AG will be amongst the first CSDs to sign the T2S Framework Agreement on 30 April 2012.

Jeffrey Tessler, CEO of Clearstream International SA, said: “TARGET2-Securities will drive the harmonisation of post-trade processes across Europe. It can bring huge benefits to the market and we have therefore been supporting T2S since the beginning of the project in 2006. T2S will result in of the commoditisation of European settlements and is a significant investment for our industry. Over the last months, we have been developing our business approach for a world with T2S. We decided to join T2S as we are confident that we can continue to serve our customers at the right price delivering excellent service levels with an unrivalled product and services portfolio.”

Mark Gem, Member of the Executive Board of Clearstream International SA and responsible for Clearstream’s business strategy, said: “We believe we are well positioned to become the natural entry point to TARGET2-Securities in Europe.

With the German CSD as part of our group, Clearstream will account for nearly 40 percent of T2S settlement volumes in the Eurozone. Clearstream’s customers will benefit from our value-added services in the space of collateral management and asset servicing that are second to none. We are looking forward to moving on with TARGET2-Securities and to playing a leading role in building this critical component of European market infrastructure.”

TARGET2-Securities is one of the largest infrastructure projects launched by the Eurosystem (the ECB and the national central banks) so far. It will bring substantial benefits to the European post-trade industry by providing a single pan-European platform for securities settlement in central bank money, thereby reducing the cost and operational risk of cross-border settlement in Europe.

The Governing Council of the ECB, along with European CSDs and other market participants, decided to start this project in July 2006. TARGET2-Securites was officially launched by the European Central Bank’s Governing Council two years later. The German CSD Clearstream Banking AG signed the T2S Memorandum of Understanding in June 2009.