ICE launches CDS portfolio margining for members

IntercontinentalExchange has announced that ICE Clear Credit, its US credit default swap clearing house, will allow members to post margin across their entire portfolio of cleared traders, rather than on a position-by-position basis. It says this will mean members need to post less collateral to clear credit default swaps, as they will be able to offset opposing single name and index positions.

Currently, all members of ICE Clear Credit are bank dealers. For now, their customers are not allowed to do portfolio margining. However, ICE says it has asked the CFTC and SEC to allow the same portfolio margining for the buyside, without which it says clearing will remain prohibitively expensive.