New York - ISDA is overseeing the symbology project, which involves a consortium of buy- and sell-side market participants, vendors, platforms and trade associations. London-based capital markets technology consultancy Etrading Software is acting as project manager. The initiative comes in response to a variety of regulatory changes, including the European Union's revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive/Regulation (MIFID II/MIFIR) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) reporting rules, which require a standardised means of identifying derivatives instruments at a granular level. A common methodology for classifying and identifying derivatives instruments across all platforms will also cut complexity and costs for market participants that need to connect to multiple trading venues, and simplify the distribution of liquidity. "The ISDA symbology project is a great example of the industry coming together to tackle an important challenge. With MIFID II and SEC regulatory requirements soon to be implemented, the drive for an industry wide, open-source standard with sufficient granularity to meet regulatory needs is now critical," said Scott O'Malia, ISDA's chief executive. The consortium will initially work to produce globally standardised symbols for credit, rates and equity derivatives in 2015. This project leverages the work and existing initiatives that some participants have previously been involved in. Sassan Danesh, partner at Etrading Software, said that the next steps are to assess the major symbology approaches in the market place today against industry and regulatory requirements. "The open source nature of the final symbols is an important part of the whole initiative, as is the concept of neutrality of jurisdiction to ensure it is globally applicable," Danesh said. In terms of options, several symbologies exist in the market today including for example FIGI and RED codes, he added. All such symbologies are in scope of the initiative. ISDA has created a Symbology Governance Committee (SGC), which will provide oversight and governance for a clear classification and identification standard that meets both industry and regulatory requirements. The SGC will focus on the near-term product priorities, alongside the longer-term symbology governance model. The SGC will report to ISDA's Board of Directors. Subject to finalising contracts, 18 entities have agreed to participate in the initiative, including: Barclays, Bloomberg, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, Goldman Sachs, ICAP-Traiana, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Markit, the Asset Management Group of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA AMG), Société Générale, Thomson Reuters, Tradeweb and UBS.
Etrading Software (ISDA) has launched a new industry data project to improve data standardisation across jurisdictions. The initiative, dubbed the Symnology Project, aims to develop an open-source standard derivative product identification system which can be applied across trading venues, clearing houses, repositories and other infrastructures. Capital markets technology consultancy firm, The International Swaps and Derivatives Association is managing the project which involves a consortium of buy and sell-side market participants.