10.04.2012
By Simon Miller
CME Group has cleared more than $500bn (£314bn) in total notional value in interest rate swaps and credit default swaps and broke February's record for monthly volume by 344% last month.
The derivative marketplace said March saw a record monthly volume record of £53.3bn while its total notional value of cleared OTC volume included $393.7bn in IRS and $106.5bn in CDS.
"Surpassing $500bn in notional value for our IRS and CDS offering confirms customers' desire to clear at CME Group ahead of any regulatory mandate," said Laurent Paulhac, CME Group managing director, OTC Products & Services. "During the first quarter of 2012, we saw more than 1,800 buy side accounts clear OTC IRS or CDS trades at CME Group, further solidifying our position as the leading OTC clearing solution by US customer volume."
In addition to the monthly record, daily and weekly records were set in cleared OTC CDS, which helped drive the second best month for OTC IRS and CDS combined:
Daily volume record of $14.2bn cleared on 20 March, a 167 percent increase from the previous record on 18 November, 2011
Weekly volume record of $33.3bn cleared the week of 26 March, a 424 percent increase from the previous weekly record during the week of 13 February, 2012
OTC IRS cleared $44.1bn in March, which represented volume across all four currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, and CAD). Open Interest now stands at $260.2bn across both products.
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