The Clearing Corporation Signs Letter of Intent to Purchase onExchange, Inc.

Chicago, August 11, 2004 - The Clearing Corporation™ ("CCorp") and onExchange, Inc., a derivatives and securities trade-processing technology software vendor headquartered in Lexington, MA, have signed a letter of intent for The Clearing Corporation to purchase onExchange, subject to the execution of final documentation.

The acquisition of onExchange and its software systems will complement and enhance The Clearing Corporation’s offering of clearing and technology solutions as it expands its business into more diverse and global markets.

Through its Extensible Clearing System (ECS), onExchange has provided a state-of-the-art application suite based on J2EE standards utilizing the Java programming language and relational database technology. This framework allows for hardware and vendor independence, real-time transaction processing and straight through processing (STP) to exchange and clearinghouse customers. ECS currently is licensed by the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), New York Clearing Corporation (NYCC), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the London Clearing House (LCH), and Hedge Street.

The onExchange ECS software platform supports J2EE standards and messaging protocols, enabling wide-ranging access to integration points with legacy and new applications. The web-based user interface provides end users real-time access to information and enables them to manage their accounts and portfolios easily. ECS is designed for easy integration with other systems, particularly those moving to STP.

Richard Jaycobs, Chief Executive Officer of onExchange, has more than 20 years experience in technology and the futures industry. Mr. Jaycobs will be joining The Clearing Corporation as a member of the senior management team and will continue onExchange’s business activities.

The Clearing Corporation’s purchase will include onExchange’s two subsidiaries, onExchange Board of Trade, Inc., and onExchange Clearing Corporation; although dormant, the former has been licensed as a DCM (designated contract market), and the latter has been licensed as a DCO (derivatives clearing organization) by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In this transaction, Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. acted as financial advisor to The Clearing Corporation; Revolution Partners, LLC, acted as financial advisor to onExchange.

About The Clearing Corporation
The Clearing Corporation, a stockholder-owned, Delaware corporation now in its 79th year of business, is the only active independent futures clearinghouse in the world. Additional information on The Clearing Corporation is available at www.clearingcorp.com.

About onExchange

Founded in 2000, onExchange, Inc., which is located in Lexington, MA, provides an open-standards-based, back-office technology systems and development framework to clearinghouses, banks, and brokerage firms. onExchange ‘s technology partners include BEA Systems, Inc. and Oracle Corporation. Additional information on onExchange is available at www.onexchange.com.

Quotes:

Michael Dawley, Chairman of The Clearing Corporation said “onExchange’s Extensible Clearing System will enable us to offer significant business and operational advantages to our clients as we help them address the challenges of trading and competing in a global marketplace.”

Dennis Dutterer, Clearing Corporation CEO added “The Clearing Corporation's suite of service offerings will be enhanced by the addition of onExchange's state-of-the-art systems, allowing us to better serve our customers and clients in a global marketplace.”

CCorp EVP and CIO Brett Paulson commented, “onExchange’s market-leading technology adds another dimension to The Clearing Corporation’s current service offerings and advances our strategic decision to provide turnkey clearing and processing services to a variety of marketplaces.”

Richard Jaycobs, CEO of onExchange, said “Our ECS technology offers complementary features that will further enable The Clearing Corporation to bring its clearing systems and solutions into a fully extensible, web-supported environment. We look forward to playing a role in The Clearing Corporation’s initiative to expand the products and services it offers to its customers.”

Contact: Andrew Yemma, Intermarket Communications, 212-888-6115, ext. 225