Software Vendors Join With Global Financial Institutions Integrating New E-Commerce Standard for OTC Derivatives Trading

FpML User Symposium to Highlight Progress in Industry Acceptance Using New Standard to Reduce Transaction Time

Major software vendors in the financial services industry will spotlight the integration of a new e-Commerce standard supporting OTC trading of financial derivatives at a symposium here October 25. Presentations by SunGard Trading and Risk Systems, Cygnifi Derivatives Services, Kronos Software and FinTrack Systems will focus on the utilization of FpML (Financial products Markup Language) to increase the efficiency of their Internet-based service offerings.

Neil Wright, Chase Manhattan Bank's Senior Vice President for Global Derivatives Operations, will open the symposium with an executive summary of the current status and future direction of FpML, which was introduced to the marketplace in July. Presentations by Reuters and J.P. Morgan will describe features and benefits of the current release, FpML Version 1.0, and how the standard will integrate with SwapsWire, the online network and protocol venture supported by a group of leading derivatives traders.

Vendor community case studies will be followed by roundtable discussions.

The symposium, to which all participants in derivatives markets are invited, is under the auspices of FpML.org, a consortium of global financial institutions and technology suppliers.* Pre-registered symposium attendees include a veritable Who's Who of the global financial community with an equal mix of vendors and financial institutions represented, an FpML.org spokesperson said.

According to Philippe Khuong-Huu, chairman of the FpML.org board of directors, the standard holds promises of halving the estimated $1 billion annual cost of processing, speeding the execution and increasing the accuracy of OTC trading in financial derivatives. FpML has already been accepted and is being integrated internally by some of the world's largest financial institutions. a means of hedging risk." He said that while FpML.org expects to automate the flow of operation across the entire derivatives network, current emphasis is on interest rate swaps and forward rate agreements.

"FpML is attractive because it permits, for the first time, all stages of a transaction to be linked seamlessly along a single software chain," Mr. Khuong-Huu said. "By eliminating costly, time-consuming processes for creating and executing what essentially are unique two-party contracts, FpML is expected to encourage an increasing number of organizations to use derivatives as a means of hedging risk." He said that while FpML.org expects to automate the flow of operation across the entire derivatives network, current emphasis is on interest rate swaps and forward rate agreements.

Visit www.fpml.org for further information on FpML and the symposium

*Organizations actively participating in the FpML standard:

Bank of America - BNP Paribas - Chase Manhattan Bank - Citigroup - Credit Suisse First Boston - Deutsche Bank - Fuji Capital Markets Corporation - Goldman Sachs - International Business Machines - J.P. Morgan - Morgan Stanley Dean Witter - PricewaterhouseCoopers - Reuters - SunGard Trading and Risk Systems - S.W.I.F.T. - UBS Warburg