ICE Clear Credit Is First CDS Clearing House to Process More Than $1 Trillion USD Notional Amount in One Day

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), announced on September 25, 2024 that its subsidiary, ICE Clear Credit, has set a new industry record. On Friday, September 20, the clearing house processed more than $1.1 trillion USD equivalent notional amount of credit default swap (CDS) instruments, marking the first time any CDS clearinghouse has exceeded the $1 trillion threshold in a single day.

This record-breaking figure included $900 billion from client-related CDS transactions, also setting a new daily record for client activity.

Stan Ivanov, President of ICE Clear Credit, commented on the achievement: "The crossing of the $1 trillion USD equivalent notional amount milestone during one clearing day is a great testimony of our ability to support the ever-evolving CDS marketplace. The client-related notional amount of more than $900 billion unequivocally demonstrates the depth of our cleared CDS instrument liquidity pool and the choice by clients to use our CDS services."

Founded in 2009 during the financial crisis, ICE Clear Credit was established to bring stability and confidence to the CDS market. Since its inception, it has grown to become the leading global clearing house for credit derivatives, offering clearing services for more than 650 Single Name and Index CDS instruments referencing corporate and sovereign debt. The company has cleared over $350 trillion in two-sided notional amount, with current open interest exceeding $1.8 trillion.

In addition to this milestone, ICE Clear Credit recently announced plans to expand its services by launching a clearing service for all U.S. Treasury securities and repurchasing agreements. This new Treasury clearing service will operate separately from the current CDS clearing service, with its own rulebook, membership, risk management framework, financial and liquidity resources, and risk committee.