UPDATE FROM THE MARKET PRACTICE COMMITTEE TO ITFA MEMBERS, Feb 2022

The role of the Market Practice Committee (MPC) is to support ITFA members through:

Below is an update from the MPC regarding current projects as of February 2022.  


STANDARD DOCUMENTS AND TEMPLATES

BAFT MPA

We keep a constant monitor on how changing market practice or regulation may affect use of the MPA, or where this may introduce the need for clarifications, amendments or revisions.

Current Status: The latest amended version of the MPA introduces fall-back wording to cover IBOR transition, as well as a handful of minor drafting fixes.

ITFA NDA

This is a mutual NDA for use by ITFA members, framed as a master agreement which can be applied by the main parties as well as their branches / affiliates as required.

Current Status: The NDA is ready to be published in next couple of weeks

‘eURF’ – Standardised rules for digital payment instruments

This is a project to modernise the existing Uniform Rules for Forfaiting (URF) and optimise these for use in fully digital end-to-end transactions. The principles have application beyond ‘forfaiting’ for negotiable payment instruments, which need to adapt to changes in both the legal environment and market practice.

We will look at both the instruments and processes, and will aim to draft a set of rules that will co-exist with the existing URF, without making changes to the fundamental architecture.

Current Status: A working group is being formed with input from a diverse range of companies and we expect to schedule a kick-off call for early March.


GUIDANCE ON MARKET PRACTICE

Trade Finance Product Classification

The MPC is working to produce a comprehensive overview of trade finance products and instruments which will be published on the ITFA website and used to inform and educate other stakeholders about our industry

Current Status: We expect to publish this on the ITFA website in March

IBOR Transition

The MPC is monitoring the transition away from IBOR, and impact on trade finance products, in order to provide clarification and guidance to members.

FAQs for 2018 BAFT MPA

Based on questions submitted by ITFA and BAFT members, the MPC has prepared an FAQ which is intended to assist market participants to adapt to the new concepts and structure in this version. This document is intended to complement existing forms of guidance (guidance notes and comparison paper), by providing a business perspective on intended market practice and practical use scenarios.

Current Status: We will publish the FAQs on the ITFA website and announce this to Members.  This will be a live document with updates periodically added. We encourage Members to contact us about any general matters arising from use of the MPA which could benefit from clarification in these FAQs (i.e. not relating to issues which must by their nature be determined on a case by case basis).


GENERAL

Input from ITFA Members

We encourage Members to contact us about any market developments which you feel could benefit from our attention, including: standardised documentation; uniformity approaches; regulatory concerns / clarifications or advocacy opportunities; guidance on changing trade relationships and processes.

Please also contact us if you have an interest in any of the topics we are currently looking at, if you would like to provide any input or have any questions about these.

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