ICE Clear Credit has received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to clear US Treasury securities, with the service now operational.
The move is an expansion of ICE’s Covered Clearing Agency (CCA) designation.
ICE has confirmed that the service operates separately from its credit default swap clearing business, with a dedicated rulebook, membership structure, risk management framework, financial resources and governance.
Testing and integration for Treasury repo clearing is expected to launch in Q4 2025.
The approval comes as the market prepares for the SEC’s Treasury clearing mandate, which will require a significant portion of cash and repo Treasury trades to be centrally cleared by 2026 and 2027.
Read more – US Treasury Clearing: Levelling the field or moving the goalposts?
ICE Clear Credit is set to initially focus on clearing cash Treasury transactions, with repo clearing planned as a subsequent phase.
Paul Hamill, chief commercial officer of ICE Clear Credit, said: “The service was developed in response to market demand. “US Treasury market participants want innovation, change and progress.”
The service is intended to align access models, operational workflows and risk management across cash, repos, futures and swaps.
The Treasury clearing service supports both ‘done away’ and ‘done with’ models, allowing firms to determine their clearing methods.
The launch comes as firms across the buy and sell-side prepare for the SEC’s clearing mandate, which was adopted in December 2023 following concerns over settlement risk and market resilience highlighted during periods of stress, including the 2020 ‘dash for cash’.
Under the rule, a large share of Treasury cash and repo transactions will be required to clear through a CCA.