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IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), the leading electronic energy marketplace and soft commodity exchange, today announced the appointment of key management for its wholly-owned European clearing house, ICE Clear Europesm, as well as the formation of a technical working group and the required notice of termination of its existing European clearing agreement.
ICE has named Paul Swann, a 20-year veteran in European derivatives and equities clearing, President and Chief Operating Officer of ICE Clear Europe. Sir Bob Reid, Chairman of ICE Futures, ICE’s U.K. regulated futures subsidiary, will serve as Chairman of ICE Clear Europe.
Swann most recently held the positions of Managing Director, Group Risk and Managing Director, Change for LCH.Clearnet. During his 20-year tenure at the London-based international clearing house, Swann held various leadership positions in technology, operations and risk management. In those roles, Swann worked closely with ICE on its energy futures and over-the-counter (OTC) clearing business.
“We are pleased to welcome Paul to the ICE team as he leads our efforts in building a world-class clearing solution to bring our customers and clearers new revenue opportunities, additional services, cost benefits and technology enhancements,” said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, ICE Chairman and CEO. “Paul’s experience in all aspects of the clearing business and the operations that support it is extensive, and he has forged strong relationships within the industry through his experience in overseeing the risk management operations for a global central clearing house.”
Sir Bob Reid has served on the Board of Directors of ICE since 2001. He has been Chairman of ICE Futures since 1999. Reid was the Deputy Governor of the Halifax Bank of Scotland from 1997 to 2004. He spent much of his career at Shell International Petroleum Company Limited, and served as Chairman and Chief Executive of Shell U.K. Limited from 1985 to 1990. He was Chairman of the British Railways Board from 1990 to 1995. He was also Chairman of London Electricity from 1994 to 1997.
On July 18, 2007, ICE provided written notice to LCH.Clearnet Ltd. to terminate the existing clearing agreements for ICE’s energy futures and OTC derivatives businesses. The clearing agreements will terminate 12 months from the date of the notice unless the parties agree to a different termination date. ICE expects to fully transition its energy futures and OTC derivatives clearing business to its ICE Clear Europe operations in the third quarter of 2008.
Based in London, ICE Clear Europe will partner with ICE’s U.S. clearing house, ICE Clear USsm, to serve ICE’s global customer base across the commodities and financial products marketplace, including futures and OTC markets. ICE Clear Europe is finalizing its application to the U.K. Financial Services Authority (FSA) to become a Recognised Clearing House. Assuming that the information provided is satisfactory and the timeline is met, regulatory approval is anticipated in early 2008.
In addition, ICE Clear Europe announced it will form a technical working group composed of representatives from clearing firms to provide a forum for discussing the technical and operational progress of the clearing house.
Finally, ICE Clear US plans to launch its new post-trade management system (PTMS) in early August. The new PTMS module was developed by ICE and will enable brokers and clearing members to manage trades that have been executed electronically on ICE. PTMS will be used in lieu of the current system, which is known as TIPS, to allocate and review all electronically traded New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) products.
In conjunction with its January 2007 acquisition of the NYBOT, ICE acquired the New York Clearing Corp. (NYCC). NYCC was renamed ICE Clear US effective June 1, 2007, and continues to operate as a registered Derivatives Clearing Organization under the oversight of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
About IntercontinentalExchange
IntercontinentalExchange® (NYSE: ICE) operates global commodity and financial products marketplaces,
including the world’s leading electronic energy markets and soft commodity exchange. ICE’s diverse futures
and over-the-counter (OTC) markets offer access to contracts based on crude oil and refined products,
natural gas, power and emissions, as well as agricultural commodities including cocoa, coffee, cotton,
ethanol, orange juice, wood pulp and sugar, in addition to foreign currency and equity index futures and
options. ICE® conducts its energy futures markets through ICE Futures, its U.K. regulated London-based
subsidiary, which offers the world’s leading oil benchmarks and trades nearly half of the world’s global crude
futures in its markets. ICE conducts its soft commodity, foreign exchange and index markets through its
U.S. regulated subsidiary, the New York Board of Trade®. NYBOT® provides global futures and options
markets, as well as clearing services through ICE Clear USsm, its wholly owned clearing house. ICE’s stateof-
the-art electronic trading platform brings market access and transparency to participants in more than 50
countries. ICE was added to the Russell 1000® Index in June 2006. Headquartered in Atlanta, ICE also has
offices in Calgary, Chicago, Houston, London, New York and Singapore. For more information, please visit
www.theice.com.
