Syndicated Loan Working Group

Mission:

The fundamental mission of the Syndicated Loan Working Group is to establish a common electronic data exchange format within the primary and secondary commercial loan markets; thus enabling more efficient communication of notifications and loan product details between the agent banks and lenders.

Scope:

To create an FpML representation of the following:

On-going cash flow messages/notifications (e.g. interest, principal repayments etc.) between agent banks, borrowers and lenders
Instrument details (e.g. Deal, Facility, Loan etc.)
Position reporting

be usable for activities such as:

Interest payment communication
Principal repayment communication
Agent bank’s ability to communicate on-going amendments to the underlying deal/facility and loan contracts

Interaction with other FpML groups:

Interaction with the group responsible for Loan Only CDS products
Business process group
Potential interaction with the Validation group regarding loan specific validation rules

Interactions with other standards:

There are no well defined standards as yet within the commercial loan market

Inputs:

Initial proposal will be issued, but as yet there are no FpML based representations of the Loan product or loan market messaging formats.

Skills

The group requires skills in at least the following areas:
· Commercial loan instrument data structure
· Common loan notice/message data content
· Exposure to either working with leading loan systems within the loan marketplace (either in-house or vendor)
· The ability to coordinate between the FpML specialists and the core business working group within the LSTA

Organization

TBD

Milestones	Date for completion:
Call for participation	April 2007
Kick off group, review charter	May 2007
Review scope with Standards Committee	TBA
Define requirements	TBA
Develop examples and documentation	TBD

Meeting Schedule

The working group will meet on a bi-weekly basis for a period of at least 2 hours.

Voting Mechanism (if required)

Rules of Operation

The working group will adopt the FpML Rules of Operation (Working Groups section). These outline best-practices for meetings, managing member participation, reaching group consensus and voting.

Estimated time commitment from Participants:

Members should be prepared to commit 2 days per month in a manner as described below. Members must also have sign-off from their management before participation.

Members of the working group will be required to follow up on action items and submit proposals. Each member will be responsible for specific aspects of the design as agreed during meetings. There will be follow up discussions between specific members and documents to be worked on outside the core bi-weekly meeting.

Given the complexity of the design, face-to-face time may be required in order to expedite the process and this may result in extra travel time and/or potential half or full day meetings.

Chair Contact Information

Chair of Working Group:	Bhavik Katira (TenDelta)
Chair Email Contact: