Nymex Holdings, parent of the New York Mercantile Exchange, is planning a credit facility to ensure that defaults by its clearing members do not disrupt the exchange's daily business.

Nymex, which last month revealed plans for an initial public offering and reported record net profits for the first half, disclosed its plans in its quarterly results filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week. The US group has not previously set up a credit facility. Nymex has more than 40 clearing members, including several of the world's biggest banks and energy groups. Under existing safeguards against defaults on clearing trades, its members are required to maintain certain levels of working capital and put up collateral to cover open-trade positions. They are also required to deposit cash into a guaranty fund, which Nymex raised from $130m (€101m) to $200m in May, to cover clearing member defaults. Nymex declined to comment further on the planned credit agreement.