ISDA®
INTERNATIONAL SWAPS AND DERIVATIVES ASSOCIATION

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Tuesday, November 23, 2004

For More Information Contact: Louise Marshall, (212) 901-6000; lmarshall@isda.org

 

ISDA publishes North American Gas Annex

 

NEW YORK, Tuesday, NOVEMBER 23 The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) has published a North American Gas Annex (the Annex) and Canadian Addendum designed to document trades in the U.S. and Canadian physical gas markets. The Annex permits market participants to document trades in a manner consistent with the approach taken by the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB), a widely used industry standard for physical gas purchases and sales in the North American markets.

 

The Annex provides terms that apply to transactions involving the purchase or sale of physical gas or options on physical gas. It permits users to bring such trades under their ISDA Master Agreement architecture and to elect to incorporate existing credit support arrangements. Users may also elect the product-specific physical delivery terms, which follow those provisions in the NAESB documentation.

 

“The Annex enables participants to document their North American physical gas trades in a manner that is consistent with two recognized industry standards, the ISDA and the NAESB,” said Steven Bunkin, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Goldman, Sachs & Co/J. Aaron & Company and Chair of ISDA's North American Energy, Commodities and Developing Products Committee. “Through the use of this Annex, market participants will be able to have credit terms and conditions negotiated in relation to an ISDA Master Agreement apply to their physical gas transactions, while ensuring that generally accepted industry terms will govern transactions in this growing market. The adoption of the Annex will promote greater efficiency in the marketplace.”

 

During the drafting process, ISDA consulted NAESB, which adopted the final document as a ‘NAESB Model’ agreement. NAESB has also produced a short User's Guide to the Annex.

 

“When two organizations come together and share their expertise, as NAESB and ISDA have done, the industry benefits tremendously,” said Rae McQuade, Executive Director of NAESB.

 

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.

 

NAESB, formed in January 2002, is an independent and voluntary North American organization that develops and promotes the use of business practices and electronic communications standards for the wholesale and retail natural gas and electricity industries. NAESB is the successor to and is modeled after the Gas Industry Standards Board, which was established in 1994 and now constitutes the wholesale gas quadrant of NAESB.  NAESB is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a standards development organization. NAESB’s members include over 350 companies and organizations that participate actively in the retail and wholesale natural gas and electricity markets. For more information, visit: www.naesb.org.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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