IntercontinentalExchange, the US-based electronic futures exchange, yesterday raised the stakes in its effort to expand in the $54,000bn credit default swap market by announcing a deal to take over The Clearing Corporation (TCC), the bank-operated clearing house.

The move is the latest salvo in a battle between ICE and the CME Group, the world's largest futures exchange, to develop central counterparty clearing infrastructure for the CDS market.