FRANCE/EUROPE - Clearnet, the first pan-European central counterparty, has launched its International Users Committees (IUCs).

The committees have been set up to consult and associate Clearnet’s users on the company’s strategic priorities and operational processes.

Participants include high level representatives of major clearing houses in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and the UK, where Clearnet currently operates.

Two IUC’s have been created, one dedicated to cash equity and derivatives business, and the second focused on bond and repo business. Each committee will meet about four times a year.

The first IUCs , dedicated to equity and derivative business, recently met in Paris where it was agreed that the mutual clearing fund that Clearnet plans to set up will constitute a new resource between individual deposits and equity capital (“mixed financial structure approach”).

George Moller, Euronext’s COO in charge of clearing and settlement, and Patrice Renault, Clearnet’s CEO, noted:} With the creation of its IUCs, Clearnet demonstrates a user-focused approach that reflects its current structure. The company’s openness and its planned development to other areas of business outside Euronext, confirm that this horizontal approach is compatible with our wish to deliver a full integrated service to Euronext users~