The Financial Stability Oversight Council on 18-JUL-2012 voted unanimously to designate eight financial market utilities (FMUs) as systemically important under Title VIII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act). This action, the first designations made by the Council, represents another key step towards creating a safer, more resilient financial system. The authority to designate FMUs—often referred to as the “plumbing of the financial system” for their role in clearing and settling transactions between financial institutions—is an important component of Wall Street Reform and is one of a number of tools now available to constrain risk and help protect against future financial crises.

The designated FMUs are:

1. The Clearing House Payments Company, L.L.C., on the basis of its role as operator of the Clearing House Interbank Payments System
2. CLS Bank International
3. Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Inc.
4. The Depository Trust Company
5. Fixed Income Clearing Corporation
6. ICE Clear Credit LLC
7. National Securities Clearing Corporation
8. The Options Clearing Corporation