CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that it set new monthly records for clearing both interest rate swaps (IRS) and credit default swaps (CDS). As of September 30, the company has cleared more than $45 billion in OTC interest rate swaps (IRS) and credit default swaps (CDS) through its open clearing solutions since their launch.
For the month of September, the company cleared over $35.5 billion in customer volume in IRS, exceeding the previous record monthly total of $1.2 billion in August. The company also cleared $6.5 billion in customer volume in CDS in September, surpassing the previous record monthly total of $287 million in August. As of September 30, open interest stood at $34.2 billion in IRS and $5.9 billion in CDS.
The company confirmed that it will expand its existing U.S. dollar-denominated IRS offering on October 17, 2011, to include Euro-denominated IRS. By year-end, CME Group will expand its CDS offering to include CDX high yield indices, and will extend its IRS offering to include the British pound, Japanese yen, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar-denominated IRS.
“CME Group is pleased to have 15 clearing members with approximately 500 customer accounts actively clearing trades ahead of the Dodd-Frank clearing mandate,” said Laurent Paulhac, managing director, OTC Products & Services. “With more than 2,500 customer accounts in the pipeline, we will continue to help our customers advance towards clearing in order to reduce their counterparty credit risk.”
“Barclays Capital has been very active in testing and clearing transactions for clients at CME Group. This early and voluntary activity provides a controlled environment in which all participants can properly prepare infrastructure, check operational readiness, and evaluate the end-to-end process,” said Ray Kahn, head of OTC derivatives clearing at Barclays Capital. “The recent increase in cleared OTC volume is important to help ensure that all parties are ready to meet the mandatory requirements ahead of time.”
“Credit Suisse is pleased to work closely with CME Group and our clients to progress the OTC clearing offering overall and see material volume go through the platform,” said Jeff Jennings, Global Head of Futures and OTC Clearing at Credit Suisse. “Increased clearing volumes and active participation in the clearing process helps ensure operational readiness for participants in advance of the introduction of any mandatory clearing requirements.”
To learn more about CME Group’s OTC clearing offering, visit our resources on IRS and CDS.
