US market operator IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) has received regulatory approval to establish its own clearing operation in London.
ICE's clearing operation - ICE Clear Europe - has been granted permission to operate in the UK by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) following HM Treasury approval and an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) review, says the US exchange.
Based in London, ICE Clear Europe is expected to commence operations in July 2008.
Paul Swann, president of ICE Clear Europe, says: "We have made significant operational progress to date working closely with the clearing community to build our European clearing business, and FSA recognition is a key milestone for us."
ICE said last year that it planned to terminate its existing clearing agreements with LCH.Clearnet and establish its own clearing operation in the UK.
ICE's London-based subsidiary, ICE Futures, has been using LCH.Clearnet's clearing services since October 2003, but the US exchange said last year that it had provided written notice to the London clearing house to terminate the agreements.