Icap clears first ag swap through ICE

Interdealer broker Icap has executed the first ever cleared agricultural swap transaction through IntercontinentalExchange clearing house ICE Clear US. Regulatory approval for such transactions was granted by the CFTC in December last year.

The OTC sugar swap transaction was submitted to the clearinghouse by Icap on behalf of Infinium Capital Management and Credit Suisse.

"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, Icap Energy CEO, in a statement. "In this instance our customers 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 security of the futures clearing model, according to ICE.