Rival CDS clearing plans revealed

London-based derivatives exchange Liffe will begin clearing contracts linked to the Markit iTraxx indexes of European credit default swaps (CDSs) during the fourth quarter of 2008.

Liffe, along with several other exchanges, mooted plans to enter the credit derivatives market as early as late 2006. "We started looking at the credit space around the same time as the other exchanges," explains John O'Neill, the London-based senior analyst at Liffe responsible for finalising the contracts. "We got t