Paris, 10 July 2007

Crédit du Nord joins EURO1 payment system

EBA CLEARING announced today that Crédit du Nord has connected to its largevalue clearing and settlement system EURO1.

As a Participant of EURO1, Crédit du Nord is in a position to exchange directly euro payments with the major bank groups in Europe via the highly efficient and cost effective platform of EBA CLEARING.

Crédit du Nord has joined EBA CLEARING as a shareholder.

"We are delighted to have Crédit du Nord connected to the EURO1 system as the first step in their strategy for moving to pan-European infrastructures in readiness for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA),” said Alan Taylor, Director, EURO1/STEP1 Services. “Crédit du Nord’s completion of the joining process underlines the ease with which EURO1 can be accessed by banks as they prepare for the decommissioning of legacy national systems."

As a net settlement system, EURO1 enables banks to re-use their liquidity to the maximum. Furthermore, new features such as intra-day liquidity distribution and a pre-funding functionality, which were introduced in 2006, have provided the EURO1 banks with key tools to enhance their overall liquidity management.

EURO1 is based on a state-of-the-art messaging infrastructure and computing facilities corresponding to the highest levels of resilience.

Access to EURO1 is open to any bank operating in Europe that fulfils the required conditions in terms of assets and risk rating.