London/Brussels - Some of the world's top banks have pledged to deal through central clearing houses when trading credit default swaps (CDS) in the European Union, EU officials said Thursday.

But bankers and EU staff alike sidestepped a reported French call for the countries which use the euro to set up a clearing house in Paris to counter the weight of London and New York, saying that they did not care where the business was carried out.

The Brussels-based European Banking Federation (EBF) "has no preference as to the location of the (one or more) central counterparties, but above all it wishes for
(them) to be safe, sound, efficient and reliable," the group wrote.

The members of the EBF and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) pledged to use central clearing services in simultaneous letters sent to the EU's executive, the European Commission, on Wednesday, commission spokesman Oliver Drewes said.

The two organizations later on Thursday confirmed his comments on their respective websites.

Drewes said that the Brussels-based body welcomed the move, which comes as world governments are looking to crack down on off-exchange financial deals in the wake of the global banking meltdown.

He refused to comment on a report published in Thursday's Financial Times that France's national bank had called for the 16 states which use the euro to set up a clearing house in Paris in a bid to wrest control of the 28-trillion-dollar market from London.

"Who will do it? That's up to them," he said.

The banks signing the letters include Barclays Capital, Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J P Morgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS. (dpa)