ISDA®
INTERNATIONAL SWAPS AND DERIVATIVES
ASSOCIATION, INC.
NEWS
RELEASE
For Immediate Release, Tuesday,
March 31, 2009
For More Information, Please
Contact:
Louise Marshall, ISDA New York, +1
212-901-6014, lmarshall@isda.org
Cesaltine Gregorio, ISDA New York,
+1 212-901-6019, cgregorio@isda.org
Donna Chan, ISDA Hong Kong, +852 2200 5906, dchan@isda.org
ISDA
Forms Credit Derivatives Determinations Committees
New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2009 – The International Swaps
and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today announced the composition of the Credit Derivatives
Determinations Committees. These committees are a key element of the CDS market
infrastructure changes that are being effected as part of the CDS hardwiring
process, by which the CDS auction settlement provisions are incorporated into
the 2003 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions.
“The formation of the
Determinations Committees is another major milestone on the road to an improved
CDS market infrastructure,” said Robert Pickel, Executive
Director and Chief Executive Officer, ISDA. “We would like to thank the institutions involved for
their commitment to the process.”
As of April 8, 2009, the
Determinations Committees will make binding determinations, such as whether a
credit event has occurred, whether an auction will be held and what obligations
are deliverable for purposes of the auction. There will be one Committee for
each region, each comprising ten dealers and five non-dealer (buyside) members.
Under the Determinations
Committees Rules, which form part of the March 2009 Supplement, the dealer group
comprises the eight largest global dealers, which are common to each Committee,
and the two largest dealers in the relevant region, measured by reference to
CDS trade volumes provided by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation
(DTCC). The buyside members are selected at random from ISDA’s Non-dealer
Committee, which is made up of hedge funds, “traditional” asset managers and
other non-dealer financial institutions. Each Committee will also include two non-voting
dealers, one non-voting regional dealer per region, and one non-voting
non-dealer member.
The firms selected to serve the
Committees are set out below. The dealer and non-dealer voting members are the
same for all regions (Americas, EMEA, Japan, Asia Ex-Japan, and Australia / New
Zealand). Their membership of the Committees will be confirmed once they have
signed a standard form of agreement with ISDA and (if they have not done so
already) adhered to the Protocol.
Dealers: Non-dealers:
Bank of America / Merrill Lynch Elliott
Management Corporation
Barclays Legal
& General Investment Management Limited
Citibank Pacific
Investment Management Company LLC
Credit Suisse Primus
Asset Management, Inc.
Deutsche Bank AG Rabobank International
Goldman Sachs
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
Morgan Stanley
The Royal Bank of Scotland
UBS
Global
Non-Voting Dealers (for all regions):
BNP Paribas
HSBC Bank
Regional
Non-Voting Dealer (for Americas, Europe, Japan, and Australia / New Zealand):
Societe Generale
Regional
Non-Voting Dealer (for Asia Ex-Japan):
Standard Chartered Bank
Non-Voting Non-Dealer (for
all regions):
Prudential Investment Management
The
resolutions of the Determinations Committees will be binding on all CDS
transactions that have incorporated ISDA’s March 2009 Supplement. The
Supplement may be included in the documentation for CDS transactions going
forward. Parties can incorporate its terms into existing transactions by
adhering to the “big bang” CDS Protocol on or before April 7, 2009.
The Supplement and Protocol
are available on ISDA’s website www.isda.org.
A set of frequently asked questions and other information is also available
there.
About ISDA
ISDA, which represents participants in the privately
negotiated derivatives industry, is among the world’s largest global financial
trade associations as measured by number of member firms. ISDA was chartered in
1985, and today has over 820 member institutions from 57 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.
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the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc.