Clearinghúsi

Clearinghúsi, or clearing house, is a financial market infrastructure institution that acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers to facilitate the settlement of trades. In many markets a clearinghúsi operates as a central counterpart, or CCP, guaranteeing the performance of both sides of a trade by novating it to the CCP. This reduces counterparty risk and enables multilateral netting of trades.

Functions include trade verification, risk management, collateral provisioning, margining, settlement, and default handling. After trades are confirmed, the clearinghúsi becomes the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer, which allows the netting of positions and reduces the gross exposure that would otherwise be required for settlement.

Clearinghúsi serve for various asset classes, including derivatives, securities, and, to a lesser extent, commodities. They may be separate CCPs for different markets or a single consolidated facility; some markets also employ central securities depositories (CSDs) to hold and transfer ownership of securities.

Key features and risk controls: initial and variation margins, default funds contributed by members, stress testing, and robust governance. In the event a member defaults, the clearinghúsi uses margin, the default fund, and, if needed, its own resources to cover losses.

Regulation: clearinghúsi are regulated as critical financial market infrastructure by national authorities and international standards bodies. They play a central role in financial stability by reducing credit and liquidity risk and by promoting transparent settlement practices.

In Icelandic financial language, clearinghúsi is the institution that performs these clearing and settlement roles in domestic and international markets, ensuring orderly market operations.