Law should mandate derivative clearing, top executives say

Testifying before the Congress, executives from four major exchanges said the clearing of credit default swap trades should be required by law. IntercontinentalExchange, CME Group, NYSE Euronext's Liffe and the Eurex derivative division of Deutsche Borse are striving to process the credit derivative as regulators increase pressure for reform of the over-the-counter market. Don Thompson, co-head of the derivatives legal practice group at JPMorgan, said existing regulation should be strengthened, but he noted that the perception that the CDS market operates outside of regulatory oversight was "inaccurate and misleading."