NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

ISDA Publishes Australian Clearing Classification Letter

NEW YORK, March 3, 2016 – The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) has published a new classification letter that will enable counterparties to notify each other of their status for clearing requirements under Australia’s mandatory central clearing regime for over-the-counter derivatives.

The ISDA Clearing Classification Letter allows counterparties to bilaterally communicate their status by answering a series of questions. Appendices to the letter include a short-form and a long-form version of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) clearing classifications and the ASIC clearing classification update notice.

ISDA prepared the appendices in order to help counterparties provide classification-status information to determine the application of certain requirements under the ASIC Derivative Transaction Rules (Clearing) 2015. The letter and the appendices may be used by a named entity to meet its requirements under Rule 3.1.2 of the ASIC clearing rules.

The ISDA Clearing Classification Letter is currently available for use with appendices relating to the ASIC clearing rules. ISDA will consider drafting other jurisdiction-specific appendices in due course.

ISDA is working with Markit to make the classification letter available on ISDA Amend, an online service developed by ISDA and Markit, and will notify market participants as soon as the online version is available.

The ISDA Clearing Classification Letter and accompanying appendices are available in the ISDA Bookstore and on the ‘Asia-Pacific’ section of the ISDA website.

Background
On July 14, 2015, ISDA published the ISDA EMIR Classification Letter, which enabled counterparties to notify each other of their status for clearing and other regulatory requirements under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). The ISDA EMIR Classification Letter is a bilateral version of the classification tool that currently exists on ISDA Amend. The ISDA Clearing Classification Letter was drafted taking into account the structure of the ISDA EMIR Classification Letter.

For Press Queries, Please Contact:
Nick Sawyer, ISDA London, +44 203 088 3586, nsawyer@isda.org
Lauren Dobbs, ISDA New York, +1 212 901 6019, ldobbs@isda.org

About ISDA
Since 1985, ISDA has worked to make the global derivatives markets safer and more efficient. Today, ISDA has over 850 member institutions from 67 countries. These members comprise a broad range of derivatives market participants, including corporations, investment managers, government and supranational entities, insurance companies, energy and commodities firms, and international and regional banks. In addition to market participants, members also include key components of the derivatives market infrastructure, such as exchanges, intermediaries, clearing houses and repositories, as well as law firms, accounting firms and other service providers. Information about ISDA and its activities is available on the Association’s website: www.isda.org.

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