Following its approval two weeks ago by the regulatory powers that be, IntercontinentalExchange’s ICE US Trust has become the first clearing central counterparty (CCP) to clear credit default swap (CDS) transactions in the US market. According to ICE, it pipped rival CME Group to the post by guaranteeing 91 swaps transactions valued at US$7.1 billion last week.
ICE currently only clears North American swaps indices and it received regulatory approval from the board of governors of the Federal Reserve, the New York State Banking Department and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prior to its launch on 9 March.
CME Group also recently received the green light to begin operations in the US market for its CDS CCP offering.
