ISDA®                

INTERNATIONAL SWAPS AND DERIVATIVES ASSOCIATION

NEWS RELEASE

 

For Immediate Release Tuesday, August 5, 2003

For More Information, Please Contact:

Louise Marshall, ISDA New York, (212) 901-6000 Fax (212) 901-6001 lmarshall@isda.org

 

NEW DRAFT OF FpML 4.0 INCLUDES CREDIT DERIVATIVES SUPPLEMENT AND MASTER CONFIRM

 

New York, Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) today released the second 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.

 

Changes in the second draft incorporate the ISDA May Credit Derivatives Supplement and the Master Confirmation. The new draft also permits the referencing of specific Reference Entity data within credit derivatives transactions, a key issue for the industry. It is anticipated FpML version 4.0 will go to trial recommendation in the Fall of 2003 and to final recommendation by the end of the year.

 

In addition to interest rate derivatives and FX derivatives, which were 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 to 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. The full text of the working draft is available at fpml.org.

 

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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