The French government on Thursday called on the European Central Bank to put in place a European clearing system for the vast credit derivatives market, in direct competition with a proposed US scheme.

Christine Lagarde, finance minister, wrote to Jean-Claude Trichet, ECB president, urging him to “design and supervise the implementation of” a clearing system for the eurozone, after concluding that talks on an industry-led model had failed to make progress. She added that this should not only apply to credit default swaps but to all over-the-counter derivatives.