Why doesn't DTCC clear CDS?

Just this last week, there was an extremely important article in Bloomberg. Thomas Peterffy, the guy from Interactive Brokers, has come out publicly stating he doesn't want the CME clearing house to clear CDS. The reason is simple, he doesn't want to be on the hook for someone who can't pay a huge CDS settlement.

This gets to the heart of an interesting question. Why isn't the Depository Trust Clearing Corporation (DTCC) in the running to clear CDS? It would make sense for them to be the front runners in this battle. They already match a decent percentage of CDS trades, they are NY based and have excellent relationships with the major fixed income players. CDS are derivatives, not cash, so there is some difference, I will grant that. But, an organization of their size and resources should be able to create derivatives clearing easily - or even better yet, just buy the technology and infrastructure and bolt it on to their existing business.

But, the DTCC is not in the running to clear CDS. Why? Well, if I had to speculate, they didn't want it. Their member group doesn't want to be on the hook for defaults. As a result, the Clearing Corporation is the front runner to clear CDS indexes and single names.