Since the introduction of repo as a specialised product in the international securities market, ICMA has been very active in promoting this product and assisting in the development of the international repo market.

This market has a significant role in the international securities market as a whole by providing liquidity, marketability and in offering opportunities for the mitigation of credit risk. The most recent ICMA repo survey has set the lower boundary for the size of the market at over EUR 6 trillion.

This section of the web site contains a range of documentation issued principally under the auspices of ICMA's International Repo Council (IRC). This section is intended to be a primary resource for participants in the international repo market and will feature regular updates of information relating to the IRC and its constituent bodies. Formal documentation is also provided in the Legal and regulatory sections of the site, and copies of surveys and statistics are available in the Repo market surveys area.

Background to the creation of the International Repo Council

Since the early 1990s, ICMA has played a significant role in promoting the interests and activities of the international repo market, and of the product itself.

Through the promulgation of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA), which has become the standard in the international market, ICMA was instrumental in the creation of sound legal documentation for the international repo market.

To address the ongoing needs of its members active in this market, ICMA also created a special interest committee within the framework of ICMA's council of reporting dealers (CRD), the CRD repo sub-committee. This sub-committee made a significant contribution towards promoting repo as a product and guiding the development of the market through its evolving trading practices.

When the pace of change in the European repo market - particularly evident towards the latter part of the 1990s - signalled a desirability for ICMA's repo dealing community to have its own and separate framework in ICMA's Rule Book, ICMA's board decided, in December 1999, that the CRD repo sub-committee should be transformed into a new body operating under ICMA's auspices, to be known as the International Repo Council (IRC). In this context, in June 2000 the board enacted new section 1000 which, among other things, determines the structure and composition of the new IRC.

The structure of the IRC and its bodies

The IRC comprises those ICMA members active in the international repo market that have been admitted to the council. The governing board of the IRC is the international repo committee (IRC committee). The IRC committee consists of two representatives appointed by each regional repo council, which in turn comprise those IRC members that are active in the repo market of a particular geographic area.

The regional repo councils are established by the IRC committee for those geographic regions in which the committee considers there to be a reasonable number of ICMA members active in the repo market and there to be a reasonable level of repo dealing. Each regional council has its own regional constitution, regional repo committee and, if considered appropriate, area specific trading guidelines and recommendations. Trading guidelines and recommendations of a regional repo council must be approved by the international repo committee before becoming effective.

Currently, the IRC committee consists of two representatives appointed by the European repo council. The IRC is in the process of considering whether to establish, with the assistance of ICMA's secretariat, an Asian and a Japanese repo council.

Membership of the IRC

Membership of the IRC and regional repo councils is open to an ICMA member who has commenced, or has undertaken to commence a dedicated repo activity, is willing to abide by the rules applicable to members of the IRC and has sufficient professional expertise, financial standing and technical resources to meet its obligations as a member of the IRC. Membership of the IRC is granted by the IRC committee, which also consults with the relevant regional repo committees before deciding whether to grant membership.