CME Group Inc (CME.O), which runs the world's biggest clearinghouse for futures contracts, plans to start clearing over-the-counter interest-rate contracts in 2010, an executive said on Wednesday.

A sweeping financial regulatory reform bill that won passage this month in the U.S. House of Representatives will require trading and clearing of a swath of derivatives currently traded away from regulated exchanges. CME is among several clearinghouses that aim to take advantage of the new requirements.

We continue to work with a group of large buyside accounts and dealer firms on interest-rate clearing, CME director Elizabeth Flores told reporters on a conference call. CME is still anticipating a launch later this year.

Clearing for over-the-counter currency contracts is on a slower track, managing director Derek Sammann said on the same call.

The market has been waiting for clarity from the regulatory side, Sammann said, noting that the bill does not mandate currency clearing but instead leaves it to the discretion of the U.S. Treasury Department.

CME expects to be internally ready to clear foreign-exchange contracts by the end of the third quarter, he said. (Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by James Dalgleish)