SEC Approves ICE Clear Credit CDS Onboarding Policy Update

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved an ICE Clear Credit rule change revising its CDS Instrument On-Boarding Policies and Procedures.

The August 25 Federal Register order says ICE Clear Credit filed SR-ICC-2026-008 on June 26, and that the SEC did not receive comments on the proposal after publication in July. ICE Clear Credit is registered with the SEC as a clearing agency for clearing credit default swap contracts for its clearing participants.

The approved change adds a third criterion to the clearinghouse’s guiding principles for considering instruments that are not constituents of currently clearable indices. Under the revised policy, ICE Clear Credit may consider single-name instruments with reference entities that have at least 500 million U.S. dollars or euros of outstanding debt notional.

The order says instruments considered under the amended principles remain subject to existing governance, risk, pricing, and operations reviews before they can be cleared.

Why it matters

Clearing eligibility can influence liquidity, margin treatment, and counterparty-risk management in CDS markets. A clearer onboarding path for single-name instruments can matter to dealers, clearing members, and buy-side users that manage credit exposure through centrally cleared products.

What to watch next

Watch for ICE Clear Credit circulars or rulebook updates showing which CDS instruments are actually selected under the amended policy.