New York, December 21, 2006 – GFI Group Inc. (Nasdaq: GFIG) and ICAP plc (IAP.L), global leaders in inter-dealer brokerage of OTC derivative products, announced today that they plan to jointly develop new clearing services for OTC derivative products with The Clearing Corporation, one of the world’s oldest, independent clearinghouses for derivative instruments, and have agreed each to acquire a minority ownership interest in The Clearing Corporation. In addition, The Clearing Corporation has agreed to appoint one GFI/ICAP representative to its Board of Directors.

The Clearing Corporation is a private Delaware corporation, based in Chicago, which serves major dealers and participants in the worldwide marketplace for derivative products, many of who are stockholders.

GFI and ICAP intend to work with The Clearing Corporation to jointly develop clearing services for OTC derivative products, including credit and interest rate derivatives. The Clearing Corporation will continue to function as an independent entity.

The establishment of a centralized clearing mechanism should allow market participants to more effectively net offsetting transactions, while boosting capacity through the elimination of backlogs and lengthy settlement times in the OTC markets.

Michael Gooch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GFI, said: “This investment confirms our commitment as leading inter-dealer brokers to developing clearing capabilities and solutions for OTC derivative products. It complements our hybrid electronic platforms, ATS facilities and straight-through-processing capabilities. Ultimately, we believe that centralized clearing will further expand the market for OTC derivative products through added settlement efficiency and reliability.”

Michael Spencer, Group Chief Executive Officer of ICAP, said: “The expansion of independent clearing facilities is an important step in the continuing growth of the global OTC markets. The membership of The Clearing Corporation includes some of the most active participants and customers in these markets. Together, we will support The Clearing Corporation's mandate to develop clearing capabilities for new financial derivatives products that will benefit all market participants.”

Michael C. Dawley, Chairman of The Clearing Corporation commented: “GFI's and ICAP's investment in The Clearing Corporation demonstrates the value our independent and flexible clearing model brings to the marketplace. We look forward to working with GFI and ICAP and welcome them as additional strategic partners.”

About GFI Group Inc.
GFI Group Inc. (www.GFIgroup.com) is a leading inter-dealer broker specializing in over-the-counter derivatives products and related securities. GFI Group Inc. provides brokerage services, market data and analytics software products to institutional clients in markets for a range of credit, financial, equity and commodity instruments.

Headquartered in New York, GFI was founded in 1987 and employs more than 1,300 people with additional offices in London, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, Englewood (NJ), and Sugar Land (TX). GFI provides services and products to over 1,700 institutional clients, including leading investment and commercial banks, corporations, insurance companies and hedge funds. Its brands include GFI™ , GFInet®, CreditMatch®, Starsupply®, Amerex® and FENICS®.

Investor relation contacts:
Christopher Giancarlo, Executive Vice President - Corporate Development
+1-212-968-2992
Chris Ann Casaburri, IR Manager
+1-212-968-4167
investorinfo@gfigroup.com

Media contact:
GFI Group Inc.
Alan Bright
Public Relations Manager
+44-20-7877-8049
alan.bright@gfigroup.co.uk

About ICAP plc
ICAP is the world's largest interdealer broker with a daily average transaction volume in excess of $1.5 trillion, more than 50% of which is electronic. The Group is active in the wholesale markets in interest rates, credit, energy, foreign exchange, equity derivatives and emerging markets. In June 2006 ICAP acquired EBS, the world's leading provider of FX trading and market data solutions. ICAP plc was added to the FTSE 100 Index on 30 June 2006. For more information go to www.icap.com

Contact:
Mike Sheard - Director of Corporate Affairs
+44-20-7050-7103
mike.sheard@icap.com

About The Clearing Corporation
The Clearing Corporation provides clearing services for global exchange and over-the-counter (OTC) traded derivatives. As the only independent derivatives clearinghouse in the world, The Clearing Corporation is in a unique position to provide more innovative and customer-focused OTC and exchange-traded derivatives clearing services in bringing markets together. The Clearing Corporation is a stockholder-owned, Delaware corporation, now in its 82nd year of business and serves numerous clients in a variety of markets. Additional information on The Clearing Corporation is available at www.clearingcorp.com.

Contacts:
Jenny Willcox
Vice President, Human Resources and Public Relations
+1-312-786-5780
jenny.willcox@clearingcorp.com
or Andrew Yemma
Intermarket Communications
+1-212-754-5450
ayemma@intermarket.com

Forward-looking statements:

Certain matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "might," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the parties and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with the development of a centralized clearing mechanism, which may not occur in the timeframe anticipated by the parties or at all or which may not be accepted by market participants or may be subject to competing clearing services. The parties do not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.