ISDA®         

INTERNATIONAL SWAPS AND DERIVATIVES ASSOCIATION

NEWS RELEASE

 

For Immediate Release Thursday, April 10, 2003

For More Information, Please Contact:

Louise Marshall, ISDA Tokyo, 813.3943.7839; Fax 813.3943.7819; lmarshall@isda.org

Or Jennifer Iannibelli, Kennedy & Company New York 914.961.2436; Fax 914.961.2476; jennifer@kennedycom.com

 

 

ISDA RELEASES FpML VERSION 4.0 WORKING DRAFT;

ANNOUNCES FpML EDITOR/VIEWER TOOL

 

TOKYO, THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2003 - The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) today released the first Working Draft for Financial products Markup Language (FpML) Version 4.0. FpML is the XML-based, freely licensed, e-commerce standard supporting OTC trading of financial derivatives.

 

“With the addition of Credit Derivatives and Equity Derivatives, the main asset classes are now covered in FpML,” said Robert Pickel, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of ISDA. “A key area of focus going forward will be to facilitate the use and the implementation of the standard. ”

 

In addition to interest rate derivatives and FX derivatives, which have been defined in earlier versions of the standard, FpML Version 4.0 covers equity derivatives, including equity swaps, and credit derivatives. The work on credit derivatives is very closely linked with the ISDA 2003 Credit Derivatives Definitions, which define the credit default swap. On a technical level, version 4.0 is the first schema based version. It is also the first version that puts a messaging framework around the product descriptions to specify their context and use. Future work on FpML will include the specifications for energy derivatives and the results of the validation working group. The Working Draft is a work in progress with a commitment from ISDA to pursue work in this direction. The full text of the Working Draft is available at: http://www.fpml.org

 

At the AGM ISDA also demonstrated a beta version of the FpML editor/viewer. The tool, which allows users to view an FpML trade, edit and change elements of the trade, or create a new trade in FpML format, is one of the possible applications of FpML. ISDA decided to develop the tool in order to make FpML more accessible. The FpML editor/viewer is expected to be made available to ISDA members and non-members in June.

 

 

FpML is a business information exchange standard for electronic dealing and processing of financial derivatives instruments. It establishes the industry protocol for sharing information on, and dealing in, financial swaps, derivatives and structured products over the Internet. It is based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), the standard meta-language for describing data shared between applications. FpML will eventually cover all categories of privately negotiated derivatives. Information about the FpML standard, the specifications and the different working groups can be found on the FpML web site: www.fpml.org.

 

ISDA is the global trade association representing leading participants in the privately negotiated derivatives industry. ISDA was chartered in 1985, and today has more than 600 member institutions from 46 countries on six continents. These members include most of the world's major institutions that deal in privately negotiated derivatives, as well as many of the businesses, governmental entities and other end users that rely on over-the-counter derivatives to manage efficiently the financial market risks inherent in their core economic activities. Information about ISDA and its activities is available on the Association's web site: www.isda.org. 

 

®ISDA is a registered trademark of the International Swaps & Derivatives Association, Inc.

 

 

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