ATLANTA and LONDON, February 17 /PRNewswire/ --
IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global futures and over-the-counter (OTC) marketplaces and clearing houses, and ICAP (IAP.L), the world's premier interdealer broker, announced the successful execution through ICE Clear U.S.(TM) of the first agricultural cleared swap transaction in the history of U.S. exchanges. The OTC sugar swap transaction was submitted to the clearinghouse by ICAP, on behalf of Infinium Capital Management and Credit Suisse.
Consistent with ICE's track record of innovation, we're the first-ever to offer and successfully clear an agricultural swap transaction, said Tom Farley, President and COO of ICE Futures U.S. Clearing OTC swaps reduces counterparty risk, and we plan to further expand our cleared swaps offerings over time by adding new commodities and contract types in response to increasing market demand.
ICAP has long been supportive of OTC clearing, and we are proud to again be at the forefront of providing new risk management tools to our customers, said Dennis Crum, Chief Executive Officer of ICAP Energy LLC. In this instance, our customers, Credit Suisse and Infinium, were able to effectively hedge their exposure to the global sugar market in a capital efficient manner.
The new cleared swaps, launched on February 13, 2009, are the first such contracts offered by ICE and combine the characteristics of an OTC-traded contract with the benefits and security of the futures clearing model. ICE was approved to clear agricultural swaps by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on December 12, 2008. Additional information on the contracts is available on the ICE website: https://www.theice.com/clear_us.jhtml.
About IntercontinentalExchange
IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE) operates regulated global futures exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) markets for agricultural, energy, equity index and currency contracts, as well as credit derivatives. ICE(R) offers these markets to participants around the world through its technology infrastructure and trading platform, together with clearing, market data and risk management services. ICE Futures Europe(R) is ICE's regulated energy futures exchange. ICE's regulated North American exchanges, ICE Futures U.S. (R) and ICE Futures Canada(TM), offer markets for agricultural and financial contracts. Creditex, a market leader in trade execution and processing for credit derivatives, is also a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICE. A member of the Russell 1000(R) and SP 500 indices, ICE is headquartered in Atlanta, with offices in New York, London, Chicago, Winnipeg, Calgary, Houston and Singapore. www.theice.com.
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, 2008, as filed with the SEC on February 11, 2009.
About ICAP
ICAP is the world's premier voice and electronic interdealer broker and the source of global market information and commentary for professionals in the international financial markets. The Group is active in the wholesale markets in interest rates, credit, commodities, foreign exchange and equity derivatives. ICAP has an average daily transaction volume in excess of US$2.3 trillion, more than 40% of which is electronic. ICAP plc was added to the FTSE 100 Index on 30 June 2006. For more information go to www.icap.com
Investors: Kelly Loeffler, VP, Investor Relations Corp. Communications, +1-770-857-4726, kelly.loeffler@theice.com, or Sarah Stashak, Director, Investor Public Relations, +1-770-857-0340, sarah.stashak@theice.com, both of IntercontinentalExchange; Media: Lee Underwood, Director, Communications of IntercontinentalExchange, +1-770-857-0342, lee.underwood@theice.com, or Candice Adam of ICAP, +44-(0)-20-7050-7104, candice.adam@icap.com
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