NYSE Euronext (NYX) is focusing on its slow-to-develop credit derivatives clearing platform in London over planned efforts to launch a similar effort in the U.S., according to a senior executive.

The joint venture between NYSE Euronext's derivatives arm Liffe and London-based clearinghouse LCH.Clearnet now counts 32 firms signed on, but clients are still testing the systems and the service has yet to see any activity, according to NYSE Liffe's recently appointed global head of derivatives, Garry Jones.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Jones acknowledged "political pressure" among potential users of NYSE Euronext's BClear-powered credit derivatives clearing service, with many sell-side participants considering rival efforts to clear trades in the estimated $27 trillion credit-default swap market.

Jones joined Liffe in 2007 after a career in the banking sector, working at Bankers Trust, Merrill Lynch and Banque Paribas.

NYSE Euronext is one of five groups looking to clear credit derivatives in Europe, where dealer banks have voiced support for such efforts - though some see the banks preferring a bank-backed solution.

In the U.S., NYSE Euronext was seen as having a regulatory leg up on CME Group Inc. (CME) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), both developing U.S.-based CDS clearinghouses, as NYSE Euronext secured approval from regulators in December.

ICE's effort received the green light Friday and began operations Monday. CME's platform is operationally ready to launch, but awaits an exemption from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

For the time being, though, NYSE Euronext says it will remain focused on developing the London business; no time frame for a U.S. launch is currently in sight, though officials say there has been progress.

Jones said that in the U.K. a variety of factors have contributed to the slow progress of the NYSE Euronext CDS clearing platform, which launched in late December.

Firms signed on to the platform pulled back on technology efforts in January, further delaying a testing process that typically takes 12 weeks, Jones said.

Meanwhile, the exchange awaits a settlement process for trades being developed by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, which is expected soon.

Hugh Freedberg, the former head of global derivatives at NYSE Euronext who was recently appointed chairman of NYSE Liffe, said that tighter regulation of over-the-counter derivatives was "inevitable."

But while exchanges can provide greater transparency with regard to price and participation in OTC products, Jones said that it was naive for regulators to believe all OTC derivatives can be cleared.

"That implies that standardization and pricing is available" for all such products, Jones said, which often isn't the case.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; (312) 750 4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com