The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today announced the composition of the Credit Derivatives Determinations Committees. These committees are a key element of the CDS market infrastructure changes that are being effected as part of the CDS hardwiring process, by which the CDS auction settlement provisions are incorporated into the 2003 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions.
“The formation of the Determinations Committees is another major milestone on the road to an improved CDS market infrastructure,” said Robert Pickel, executive director and chief executive officer, ISDA. “We would like to thank the institutions involved for their commitment to the process.”
As of April 8, 2009, the Determinations Committees will make binding determinations, such as whether a credit event has occurred, whether an auction will be held and what obligations are deliverable for purposes of the auction. There will be one Committee for each region, each comprising ten dealers and five non-dealer (buyside) members.
Under the Determinations Committees Rules, which form part of the March 2009 Supplement, the dealer group comprises the eight largest global dealers, which are common to each Committee, and the two largest dealers in the relevant region, measured by reference to CDS trade volumes provided by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC). The buyside members are selected at random from ISDA’s Non-dealer Committee, which is made up of hedge funds, “traditional” asset managers and other non-dealer financial institutions. Each Committee will also include two non-voting dealers, one non-voting regional dealer per region, and one non-voting non-dealer member.
The firms selected to serve the Committees are set out below. The dealer and non-dealer voting members are the same for all regions (Americas, EMEA, Japan, Asia Ex-Japan, and Australia / New Zealand). Their membership of the Committees will be confirmed once they have signed a standard form of agreement with ISDA and (if they have not done so already) adhered to the Protocol.
Dealers: Non-dealers:
Bank of America / Merrill Lynch Elliott Management Corporation
Barclays Legal & General Investment Management Limited
Citibank Pacific Investment Management Company LLC
Credit Suisse Primus Asset Management, Inc.
Deutsche Bank AG Rabobank International
Goldman Sachs
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
Morgan Stanley
The Royal Bank of Scotland
UBS
Global Non-Voting Dealers (for all regions):
BNP Paribas
HSBC Bank
Regional Non-Voting Dealer (for Americas, Europe, Japan, and Australia / New Zealand):
Societe Generale
Regional Non-Voting Dealer (for Asia Ex-Japan):
Standard Chartered Bank
Non-Voting Non-Dealer (for all regions):
Prudential Investment Management
The resolutions of the Determinations Committees will be binding on all CDS transactions that have incorporated ISDA’s March 2009 Supplement. The Supplement may be included in the documentation for CDS transactions going forward. Parties can incorporate its terms into existing transactions by adhering to the “big bang” CDS Protocol on or before April 7, 2009.
