Fed to seek oversight of clearing trades

The Federal Reserve is seeking to become the lead regulator for clearing trades in the $33 trillion credit-default swap market, according to people with knowledge of the proposal.

The Fed, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Treasury Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are discussing a memorandum of understanding that lays out oversight of clearinghouses that would become the central counterparty to credit-default swap trades, said the people who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.

"The Fed is the natural place for it to go," said Craig Pirrong, a finance professor who studies futures markets at the University of Houston. "The main concern is systemic risk," Pirrong said, which the Fed is better equipped to control.