CHICAGO, July 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global regulated futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, has launched clearing for emerging markets credit default swap (CDS) indexes. ICE Clear Credit, ICE's North American CDS clearing house, is the first to offer real-time, trade-date clearing of the Emerging Markets CDS index (CDX.EM) for buyside and dealer-to-dealer trades. The launch of CDX.EM series 16 and 17 augments the list of over 40 cleared North American indexes available for client clearing at ICE.

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In October 2011, ICE Clear Credit became the first central counterparty to clear sovereign CDS with the introduction of Argentine, Brazilian, Mexican and Venezuelan single names. CDX.EM is comprised of 15 sovereigns, including the four already cleared by ICE Clear Credit.

"We continue to work closely with all stakeholders to expand the range of clearable credit derivatives. The addition of clearing for the emerging markets index offers market participants additional risk management tools," said ICE Clear Credit President Christopher Edmonds.

In the first weekly clearing cycle for the two CDX.EM series, $14.5 billion gross notional value was cleared and open interest stands at $2.7 billion. Daily clearing launched this week for buyside and dealer-to-dealer transactions.

With over 330 North American and European CDS indexes and single names available for clearing, ICE provides a robust CDS risk management model and open access for all market participants. ICE has cleared over $32 trillion gross notional value globally and is the market leader in CDS product coverage.

About IntercontinentalExchange

IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE) is a leading operator of regulated futures exchanges and over-the-counter markets for agricultural, credit, currency, emissions, energy and equity index contracts. ICE Futures Europe hosts trade in half of the world's crude and refined oil futures. ICE Futures U.S. and ICE Futures Canada list agricultural, currencies and Russell Index markets. ICE is also a leading operator of central clearing services for the futures and over-the-counter markets, with five regulated clearing houses across North America and Europe. ICE serves customers in more than 70 countries. www.theice.com  

The following are trademarks of IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. and/or its affiliated companies: IntercontinentalExchange, ICE, ICE and block design, ICE Futures Europe, ICE Clear Europe, ICE Clear Canada, ICE Clear US, ICE Futures U.S., and ICE OTC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information regarding registered trademarks owned by IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. and/or its affiliated companies, see https://www.theice.com/terms.jhtml

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, 2011, as filed with the SEC on February 8, 2012.

ICE-CDS

SOURCE IntercontinentalExchange