ICE Clear Europe Credit Clearing Closure Reaches 85% Completion Mark for Open Interest Transferred, with OSTTRA Moving $330 Billion So Far

11 July 2023

London, 11 July 2023 – OSTTRA, the global post-trade solutions network, has completed its latest migration cycle run to move open interest (OI) out of ICE Clear Europe through its counterparty risk optimization service triBalance. With 9 cycles now completed, OSTTRA has successfully moved $330bn of OI for single name and index cleared credit default swaps (CDS). The migration has progressed successfully, enabling firms to reduce OI substantially as the closure of ICE’s European CDS clearing service (ICEEU) later this year inches closer.

OSTTRA has been operating a series of migration cycles since January 2023 to reduce open interest and move firms’ residual positions to alternative clearing houses, namely LCH CDSClear and ICE Clear Credit (ICC), the US equivalent of ICE’s European credit clearing entity.

The $330 billion successfully moved equates to approximately 85% of the total open interest that must be transferred by 27 October 2023. More specifically, over 99% of Single Names CDS positions and 77% of the Indices have now been moved to alternative central counterparties (CCPs).

Following recent exemptions granted by regulators, the latest cycle addressed 65% of the total Index DTO/MAT series (on-the-run and first-off-the-run, which together constitute approximately 37% of total Index OI). This has enabled OSTTRA to facilitate firms in making significant progress.

“The results of the most recent of the transition cycles mark a significant milestone ahead of the ICEEU closure. The efficiency seen within this process demonstrates the unique capabilities and central position of OSTTRA within post-trade workflows for credit derivatives, which has allowed for the smooth, timely running of such an impactful transition within the industry. We are very pleased with the ability of our service in supporting this industry migration, and we look forward to continuing with the remaining cycles.”

– Nikki Einarsson, Business Development Manager at OSTTRA triBalance

To find out more, talk to a member of our team at info@osttra.com.