Joint Trade Association Response on Unique Product Identifiers

On January 9, ISDA, the Alternative Investment Management Association and the European Banking Federation submitted a joint response to a European Commission (EC) consultation on the best way to identify over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives for the purpose of transparency requirements under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MIFIR).

In the response, the associations highlight their preference for unique product identifiers (UPIs) (ISO4914) in MIFIR regulatory technical standard (RTS) 2, augmented by several other fields to ensure optimal granularity. RTS 2 sets out the technical detail of transparency requirements in MIFIR. The associations further stated that the most efficient way for users of transparency and consolidated tape data to understand the tenor of instruments covered by these requirements would be for market participants to report the effective date (among the additional fields needed). Along with the time stamp of the trade, this would allow approved publication arrangements to calculate the tenor for these users. Furthermore, the associations suggest the EC conduct a cost/benefit analysis on the use of UPI as the basis for MIFIR transaction reporting requirements.

Currently, MIFIR requires ISINs as the basis for transparency and transaction reporting requirements, but this approach has been sub-optimal in some asset classes – notably, interest rate derivatives.

ISDA Presents Lock-Up Agreement Proposal

ISDA is pleased to present the proposed Lock-Up Agreements and CDS – Proposed Auction Solution. “Lock-Up Agreements” are market-wide arrangements, broadly standardized and predominantly integrated with court sanctioned restructuring or bankruptcy processes. Numerous end users will sign material Lock-Up Agreements...

Key Trends in OTC Derivatives Market H2 2024

The latest data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives statistics shows a modest increase in notional outstanding during the second half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Notional outstanding for interest rate, foreign...