ICE Clear Europe Announces euro5.9 Billion in CDS Cleared for Week of July 27, 2009
By Prne, Gaea News NetworkSunday, August 2, 2009
LONDON -
IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today announced that in its first week of operation, ICE Clear Europe(R) cleared euro5.9 billion (US$8.4 billion) in credit default swap (CDS) indexes.
ICE began clearing the iTraxx index contracts on July 27 through ICE Clear Europe’s CDS clearing operations. During its first week, ICE Clear Europe cleared 141 transactions totaling euro5.9 billion of notional value, and resulting in euro382.5 million of open interest. Each of the initial clearing members participated during the first week.
Said Paul Swann, President of ICE Clear Europe: “The successful launch prior to the July 31 deadline coupled with the participation by each initial member demonstrates the industry’s commitment to improving the transparency, standardization and counterparty risk profile in the CDS markets. We commend these participants for their leadership in solving for these objectives in both Europe and in the U.S. We look forward to delivering our segregated funds offering to buy-side participants in October.”
ICE Clear Europe, which also provides clearing services for ICE’s futures and OTC energy markets, has established a separate risk pool for clearing CDS, including a guaranty fund and margin accounts, as well as a dedicated risk management system and governance structure. Through its U.S. CDS clearing arm, ICE Trust(TM), and now ICE Clear Europe’s European CDS clearing effort, ICE brings a common infrastructure to global CDS market participants within their respective regulatory jurisdictions, while leveraging clearing systems and risk management processes already in use by the industry. ICE Trust has cleared $1.7 trillion in North American CDS indexes to date.
Initial CDS clearing members at ICE Clear Europe include: Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS.
More information, including the ICE Clear Europe CDS rulebook and Frequently Asked Questions, are available at https://www.theice.com/clear_europe_cds.jhtml.
About IntercontinentalExchange
IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE) operates leading regulated exchanges, trading platforms and clearing houses serving the global markets for agricultural, credit, currency, emissions, energy and equity index markets. ICE Futures Europe(R) hosts trade in half of the world’s crude and refined oil futures. ICE Futures U.S.(R) and ICE Futures Canada(R) list agricultural, currency and Russell Index markets. ICE offers trade execution and processing for the credit derivatives markets through Creditex and ICE Link(TM), respectively, and CDS clearing through ICE Trust(TM). A component of the Russell 1000(R) and S&P 500 indexes, ICE(R) serves customers in more than 50 countries and is headquartered in Atlanta, with offices in New York, London, Chicago, Winnipeg, Calgary, Houston and Singapore. www.theice.com
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 - Statements in this press release regarding IntercontinentalExchange’s business that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, as filed with the SEC on February 11, 2009.
Source: IntercontinentalExchange
Investor & Media Contacts: Kelly Loeffler, VP, Investor Relations & Corp. Communications, +1-770-857-4726, kelly.loeffler at theice.com, or Sarah Stashak, Director, Investor & Public Relations, +1-770-857-0340, sarah.stashak at theice.com, both of IntercontinentalExchange
Tags: IntercontinentalExchange, London, United Kingdom