Press Release: Major step towards financial stability: European market for credit default swaps becomes safer

As of 31 July, 2009, credit default swaps (CDS) relating to European entities and indices based on these entities will start clearing through central counterparties regulated in the EU. This will reinforce financial stability by ensuring better risk management for European CDS, and comes in response to Commissioner McCreevy's call to reduce the risks inherent in this market. CDS are financial products designed to insure the buyer against losses caused by a credit event (e.g. a default) affecting a given entity, and until now had been managed bilaterally between buyer and seller.