Even where products are traded in OTC markets such as the CDS, there is a move already in US and Europe to move the CDS markets to the clearing houses – various models are being debated including central clearing vis-à-vis mere centralized settlement.
Since the central counterparty, by definition, interposes itself in any transaction settled through it, the counterparty in any transaction cleared by a CCP would not be another market participant but the CCP itself. The key advantage of the CCP mechanism is the possibility of multilateral netting, which reduces counterparty risk for each member of the CCP, by reducing the net credit exposure.