Extension of opening hours for ECS on the FFA swaps market

Dear Member

LCH.Clearnet would like to inform you that the opening hours of ECS (the Extensible Clearing system), the clearing system used for Freight clearing, will be extended for trade input and clearing of FFA swaps, effective from Tuesday 27th May 2008.

Currently ECS is open from 08:00 hrs to 17:00hrs for trade input, and until 17:30 for confirmation of trades by Members. The new opening hours will be:

Open:     08:00hrs (London time)
Close for trade input:    18:00hrs
Close for Member confirmation: 18:30hrs

These later closing hours will not affect the timing of the end of day process and hence the publication of the end of day Member reports.

Please note: This extension is only applicable for the swaps markets. Please see below the contracts and their codes which will be affected. The closing times for the FFA options will remain unchanged, ie 17:00 hrs for trade input, 17:30 for member confirmation.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on +44 207 426 7460 or Isabella.kurek-smith@lchclearnet.com

Isabella Kurek-Smith
Director, Energy and Freight Markets

 Extension of opening hours for ECS on the FFA swaps market