Ice-NYSE Euronext: Good or bad for margin offsets?

Ice’s December announcement of a planned $8.2 billion acquisition of NYSE Euronext sets up a battle for over-the-counter clearing supremacy in the US between Ice-NYSE and CME Group. The first shots are about to be exchanged over cross-margining. Peter Madigan reports

New York Stock Exchange Building

So many new requirements are being placed on the derivatives market – mandatory clearing for standardised derivatives, with its attendant initial and variation margin calls, for instance, plus the expected collateral-posting obligation for uncleared trades – that users are looking for ways to squeeze out every possible cost saving they can. In that sense, the revelation in December that Atlanta-based Ice hopes to acquire NYSE Euronext may worry some.

On one hand, the $8.2 billion acquisition