Source: Isda
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) announced today its support for the Clearing Connectivity Standard (CCS), an industry standard that helps improve over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives reporting and communication for asset managers, futures commission merchants (FCMs), central counterparties (CCPs) and custodians.
To further the development of this work, ISDA will work with Sapient Global Markets, which initially developed the standard in collaboration with the largest custodian banks and leading FCMs, to provide program management, governance and industry oversight.
The CCS, a standardized connectivity format, will simplify integration with data systems and automate reconciliation in order to improve the communication and reporting of cleared OTC derivatives trades. The standard can be used by the FCM community to transmit OTC clearing related information on behalf of their asset manager clients to custodians.
CCS currently provides for standardized connectivity and reporting initially for central counterparty-eligible interest rate and credit default swap products in the US through LCH.Clearnet's SwapClear and the CME Group. ISDA and Sapient Global Markets are working on a plan to expand the service to include additional products, participants and geographies over the next year. The intent is to broaden the range of participants to include additional FCMs, custodians, asset managers and CCPs. Future enhancements to the CCS will also include a conversion of the standard to Financial products Markup Language (FpML) under the guidance of FpML Working Groups. FpML is the industry data standard for OTC derivatives and complex products.
The initial version of the standard has been adopted by a group of participants representing more than 12 firms and multiple end users in the buy-side community.