Against a challenging geopolitical backdrop, we have been encouraged by the resilience shown by capital markets across the region. Market participants have continued to demonstrate professionalism, discipline and a strong commitment to orderly market functioning. The continued fulfilment of obligations by issuers, together with the overall stability of the market, reflects the depth, growing sophistication and underlying strength of MENAT capital markets.

Mohamed Sharaf, Chair of ICMA’s MENAT regional committee, said: “The capital markets across the MENAT region have continued to demonstrate stability and resilience despite a difficult external environment. This reflects the strength, diversification and increasing maturity of the region’s markets, as well as the professionalism and commitment of issuers and market participants.”

Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA, said: “ICMA remains firmly committed to its members in the MENAT region and to supporting the continued development of the region’s capital markets. In a difficult geopolitical environment, we have been encouraged by the resilience shown across the market and look forward to the return of more stable and normalised conditions in due course.”

ICMA greatly values its engagement with members and market stakeholders across the region and remains focused on supporting their priorities and the further development of efficient, resilient and internationally connected capital markets.

31 March 2026

The report provides a data-driven overview of how Asian issuers are accessing international bond markets, examining issuance trends by jurisdiction, currency, tenor, debut issuance and sustainable bonds. This latest edition is based on the full-year 2025 dataset and offers a detailed picture of the forces shaping Asia’s international funding landscape.

Key findings

• Latest issuance trends: Asian international bond issuance rose to USD527 billion in 2025, up 14% year on year, continuing the recovery from the 2022 to 2023 trough.
• Jurisdictional highlights: Japan and China remained the region’s largest markets covering over half of the region’s total issuance, while ASEAN jurisdictions’ combined issuance volume grew by one-third year-on-year.
• Currency and tenor: The US dollar remained the principal currency of issuance, representing two-thirds of the region’s issuance. Tenor-wise, 1-5 year maturities remained the core of supply, with growing preference for longer-dated funding.
• Sustainable bonds: Issuance in Asia totalled USD94 billion, maintaining a share of roughly one fifth of the region’s overall international bond issuance.

Download the report now for an in-depth look into the trends shaping Asia’s bond markets in 2026.

The programme is full time, paid and runs for six weeks over the summer. Interns are based in London and will work closely with experienced professionals in a supportive and inclusive environment. Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK for the full duration of the internship. Please note that ICMA is unable to sponsor visas for this role.

Applications must be submitted by close of business on Thursday 17 April.

How to apply
To apply, please submit your CV, a short cover letter and responses to the application questions via the link below.
👉 ICMA Summer Internship 2026

26 March 2026 

The survey measured and analysed the value of outstanding repo plus reverse repo on the books of 59 participants at close of business on 10 December 2025. Given that the ICMA surveys a sample of the European repo market, the headline number must be taken as the minimum size of the European market.

Download the 50th ICMA ERCC European Repo Market Survey

Growth of 9.8% since June and 24.6% year-on-year extended the strong expansion observed in the first half of 2025, driven by tariff-related macroeconomic uncertainty and heightened financial market volatility. In this environment, the repo market efficiently met increased demand for precautionary liquidity while continuing to provide a safe haven for investors. It also absorbed the rising volume of government debt issuance. Moreover, despite the elevated uncertainty and volatility, repo rates remained broadly stable, including over the year-end, partly reflecting central bank efforts to encourage routine use of their liquidity facilities.

Summary of key findings:

• The survey sample maintained its role as a net lender of cash, although this position has been gradually unwinding since the end of quantitative easing.
• The share of interdealer repo traded on automatic trading systems (ATS) declined further to an eight-year low, reflecting increased activity in US dollar and US Treasury repo conducted outside European platforms, while voice-broking reached an 11-year high, highlighting its importance in periods of elevated trading volumes and in less electronically traded segments.
• Dealer-to-customer electronic trading continued to grow, supported by hedge fund activity, although at a slower pace, while tri-party repo showed only a modest recovery in share.
• Cross-border activity continued to increase, reaching a new all-time high, driven by growth in non-European currencies and collateral, while activity between non-eurozone counterparties remained elevated.
• CCP-cleared repo activity stabilised overall, with a notable expansion in GC financing, which grew strongly and increased its share of the market, supported by longer tenors and wider participation.
• US Treasuries further increased their share of collateral to a new record, remaining the largest collateral class, while shares of EU government bonds and JGBs declined; Italian government bonds remained the second largest component.
• In tri-party repo, there was a shift towards higher-quality collateral, with increased shares of AAA and A-rated securities and reduced exposure to CMBS, reflecting concerns over commercial real estate valuations.
• The share of floating-rate repo rose strongly, approaching previous peaks, suggesting growing expectations that central bank rate cuts may be nearing an end.
• Maturity profiles shifted modestly towards longer tenors, with increased activity in one- to three-month transactions and greater maturity transformation by the survey sample.

25 years of the ERCC survey

To mark the 50th ERCC survey, ICMA will publish a retrospective analysis of the past 25 years of survey results, charting the evolution of the European repo market since its inception. Over this period, the repo market has firmly established itself at the core of European wholesale finance - gradually replacing unsecured funding, demonstrating resilience through the global financial crisis, and adapting to significant regulatory reforms. It has become a critical channel for monetary policy implementation while undergoing profound structural transformation, including increased electronification, the expansion of central clearing, and the entry of new market participants.

Drawing on ICMA research, including a survey of asset owners and asset managers representing around USD28 trillion in assets under management, the paper explores how ESG ratings and data products are used in practice across equity, debt and loan markets, from investment mandates and risk analysis through to engagement and regulatory compliance.

The paper looks at how IOSCO’s recommendations made in 2021 have led to market-led responses in Japan, Singapore, the UK and Hong Kong, including the creation of the ICMA Code of Conduct for ESG Ratings and Data Product Providers as well as more recently to regulation in the EU as well as India and the UK.

Key insights:

• The market has already become much more transparent since IOSCO’s Final Report in November 2021, helped by providers signing up to voluntary codes of conduct.
• There continues to be widespread reliance on third-party ESG ratings and data products, but also extensive use of internal ESG scores and ratings by asset managers and owners.
• The ICMA Code of Conduct has become an important reference point in improving transparency, governance and comparability in the market for ESG ratings and data products, however, regulation if done proportionately can bring additional benefits.
• The interaction between voluntary codes, formal regulation, internal models and standardised sustainability disclosures will shape how this market develops from here.
• ESG products not covered by current or future regulation, such as ESG data products, can continue to be covered by voluntary codes of conduct.

For members following developments in sustainable finance, regulation and market infrastructure, the paper offers a timely overview of a market that is becoming increasingly significant to investment decision-making and capital market practice.

The consultation, jointly published by HM Treasury and the UK Debt Management Office, is intended to better inform the government on the structure of its T-bill issuance programme, as well as to explore options to promote participation in the T-bill market, both via primary market operations and through the development of a more active and liquid secondary market.

In composing its response, ICMA convened a Taskforce of entities active in the UK T-bill market from its deep and diverse membership, including Gilt-Edged Market Makers (GEMMS), UK Treasury Bill Primary Participants (TBPPs), real money and levered investors, as well as relevant market infrastructures.

In its response, ICMA offers its full support for the UK government’s objective of diversifying its financing sources and believes that T-bills can play a more prominent role in its outstanding stock of debt, as well as providing key recommendations to enhance the depth, liquidity, and efficiency of both the primary and secondary markets, including repo. In doing so, ICMA draws on the successful features and experiences of other active T-bill markets, including those of France, Italy and, in particular, the US. Appropriate incentives for Primary Dealers or other liquidity providers are critical, including a dedicated repo standing facility. ICMA also identifies potential sources of new investment, including retail, noting that T-bills offer a secure and higher-yielding alternative for the £1.6tn currently sitting in bank accounts.

ICMA suggests that with the right architecture and a gradual approach, T-bill issuance could form as much as 15% of the UK government’s outstanding stock of debt; a meaningful increase from the current proportion of 3.5%.

In its response, ICMA strongly supports the FCA’s stated objective to “deliver a streamlined framework that will cut costs for business while ensuring effective regulatory oversight of our world-leading capital markets” and highlights that there is indeed ample scope for such improvements. While the response itself focuses mainly on the FCA’s proposals in relation to MiFIR transaction reporting, we also used the opportunity to share with the FCA a detailed list of proposals for a structured review of the SFTR reporting regime similar to those that had already been shared with ESMA recently. These are the result of a detailed review of the current requirements and issues flagged by members over the past years.

ICMA remains committed to contributing actively and constructively to the ongoing reviews of transaction reporting requirements across the EU and the UK, through our consultation responses, our bilateral engagement with the FCA and ESMA, and through official groups, such as the FCA’s recently created SFTR industry engagement group.

This landmark initiative addresses long-standing liquidity management challenges in Islamic finance by replacing fragmented practices with a unified, Shari’ah-compliant, and robust operational standard. The collaboration leverages ICMA’s extensive experience with the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA) and IIFM’s specialised expertise in Shari’ah-compliant standard-setting. Yusuf Battiwala, Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright has been appointed as Legal Counsel for the project.

The standardisation project is designed to enhance market liquidity by providing Islamic financial institutions worldwide with reliable tools for short-term funding, while simultaneously reducing operational costs and Shari’ah complexities. 

Dr. Ahmed Rufai, Acting CEO of IIFM:
"We are delighted to partner with ICMA to bring greater standardisation, harmonisation and transparency to the Islamic repo market. By combining ICMA's global expertise in Repo with IIFM’s Shari’ah leadership, we are creating a framework that facilitates efficient liquidity management and strengthens the integration of Islamic finance within global capital markets. This project is a cornerstone of our strategic vision, providing the legal certainty and infrastructure necessary for a more transparent, efficient, and interconnected Islamic financial future."

Mr. Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA added:
“Repo is a cornerstone of the global financial market and an essential tool for firms’ liquidity and risk management. By partnering with IIFM to develop a globally standardised, Shari’ah-compliant master agreement, we aim to help with extending the core benefits of repo to the Islamic Finance market, bringing greater clarity, legal certainty and operational efficiency to Islamic repo activity across key markets. This will support Islamic banks and other market participants in managing short-term funding more effectively, and it will strengthen the resilience and connectivity of local capital markets as they continue to deepen and internationalise.”

Following the completion of the drafting phase, the standards will be supported by an explanatory memorandum to assist market participants in seamless implementation. 

We invite ICMA members to contact us if they have any questions or would like to get involved. 

18 February 2026 

This report is the ninth in a series of guides on domestic repo markets, published as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting the development of repo markets globally. Previous guides covering China, Japan, Indonesia, 
the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam, were published in 2022 and 2023 (ICMA member login required), followed by Australia in 2024 (open access) and most recently India in 2025
(login required).

The South Africa guide, which is open access and available to all to download, was made possible through the Special Purpose Reserve Fund of Strate, in the interests of supporting market education and the alignment of South Africa’s financial markets to international best practice.

ICMA has played a significant role in promoting the international repo market since the 1990s. This includes the development of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA), which has become the principal master agreement for cross-border repos globally, as well as for many domestic repo markets, supported by annually updated legal opinions in over 70 jurisdictions (view a full list of jurisdictions covered by the 2025 legal opinions update).

For more information contact: grcf@icmagroup.org

• Ant Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, Hong Kong
• Challenger Deep Kaiko Inc., United States
• CTBC Bank Co., Ltd., Taiwan
• Rating and Investment Information, Inc., Japan

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

ICMA ERCC Committee 2026 – 2028

Charlie Badran
AXA Investment Managers (part of BNPP Asset Management)

Thomas Hansen
Banco Santander, S.A.

Michel Semaan
Banque Centrale de Compensation (LCH SA)

Nick Daunt
Barclays Capital Securities Services Ltd

Emma Cooper
BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd

Julien Choukroun
BNP Paribas

James Cherry
Clearstream Banking

Andreas Biewald
Commerzbank AG

Amanda Butavand
Crédit Agricole CIB

Frank Gast
Eurex Repo GmbH

Marije Verhelst
Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V.

Ned Taylor
HSBC Bank Plc

Philip Boyce
J.P. Morgan Securities Plc

Hamish Thornton
Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets

Daniel Bremer
Merrill Lynch International

Alexander Hawke
Morgan Stanley

Anja Kleefsman
PGGM Vermogensbeheer B.V.

Sylvain Bojic
Société Générale S.A.

Nicola Danese
Tradeweb Europe Ltd

Gareth Allen
UBS AG

Arne Theia
UniCredit Bank GmbH

• Extension of exclusions to legacy coal exposure
• Treatment of non use-of-proceeds (UoP) instruments of public entitie
• Voluntary disclosure for all relevant funds
• Effective implementation

For the treatment of UoP bonds and funds

• Explicit recognition of credible market standards and other credible tools
• Application of category exclusions to UoP bonds and funds.

Pursuant to the September 2025 announcement from the People's Bank of China, China Securities Regulatory Commission, State Administration of Foreign Exchange and related Q&A to broaden access for offshore investors to China's repo market, the PBoC has now recognised the use of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement ("GMRA") for bond repo transactions involving bonds in the China Interbank Bond Market ("CIBM"), following ICMA's filing of the GMRA with the PBoC.

根据中国人民银行、中国证券监督管理委员会、国家外汇管理局于2025年9月发布的、旨在拓宽境外投资者进入中国回购市场的渠道的公告及答记者问，继ICMA向中国人民银行备案《全球回购主协议》后，中国人民银行现已认可在涉及中国银行间债券市场（CIBM）债券的回购交易中使用《全球回购主协议》（GMRA）。


What is the GMRA?
什么是《全球回购主协议》？ 

The GMRA is the most widely-used market standard master agreement for repo transactions, published and maintained by ICMA, which provides a framework of standard terms and conditions to govern repos between two contracting parties. Having this framework in place means that, whenever a new repo is transacted, the parties do not need to agree all its terms and conditions again. This makes the negotiation of repos more efficient and less prone to inadvertent mistakes.

《全球回购主协议》是由ICMA发布并维护的、全球最广泛使用的回购交易市场标准主协议，为双方回购交易提供一套标准条款和条件的框架。有了这一框架，每次进行新的回购交易时，双方无需重新协商所有条款和条件，从而提高谈判效率并降低无意错误的风险。

The GMRA clarifies the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, particularly in the event of a default by one of them. Core protections against loss on default include the transfer of legal title to collateral and the operation of close-out netting. Title transfer is intended to ensure that collateral is owned outright by the transferee and, subject to applicable insolvency law, is not treated as part of the insolvent counterparty’s estate. Close-out netting mitigates credit losses by reducing and crystallising exposure to a defaulting party and, where recognised under applicable regulatory frameworks, allows counterparty exposures to be calculated on a net rather than gross basis, thereby reducing regulatory capital requirements.

《全球回购主协议》适用于银行间债券市场买断式回购，明确了交易双方的权利和义务，尤其是在一方违约的情况下。违约时的核心风险防护措施包括抵押品法律所有权的转移以及终止净额结算（close-out netting）的运作。所有权转移旨在确保抵押品由受让方完全、无条件地持有，并且在适用的破产法框架下，不会被视为纳入违约对手方的破产财产。终止净额结算通过减少并明确对违约方的风险敞口来降低信用损失，同时，在适用的监管框架允许的情况下，通过将对手方风险按净额而非总额计算，从而减少适用的监管资本要求。

ICMA member support and resources for the GMRA
ICMA的支持与《全球回购主协议》相关资源

There are special characteristics in China's repo market (including the latest developments mentioned above), where there may be potential differences in market practice and technical aspects of the relevant trading and settlement process. ICMA's member support and resources should be able to offer help in this regard.

中国回购市场具备一定独特性（包括上述最近进展），其市场惯例、交易及结算环节的技术方面可能存在潜在的差异。ICMA所能提供的支持与相关资源应该有所襄助。

ICMA annually commissions legal opinions from local counsel on the enforceability of the GMRA and its annexes in over 70 jurisdictions. Depending on the ICMA membership type, these opinions are available as one of the benefits of membership.

ICMA每年都会委托各地律师事务所，针对70多个司法管辖区，出具《全球回购主协议》（GMRA）及其附录的法律可执行性意见书。根据有关机构的类型，这些法律意见书作为会员权益之一提供。

In addition to annual legal opinions, ICMA also offers members access to a help desk to assist with queries about the GMRA, ad hoc guidance to assist members in understanding the implications of market events, as well as educational material and alerts to members on significant legal developments in jurisdictions where the GMRA is used.

除了每年的法律意见书外，ICMA还为机构提供咨询服务台，以协助解决有关《全球回购主协议》的问询，提供专门的指导以帮助机构理解市场事件的影响，还提供培训资料并在使用《全球回购主协议》的司法管辖区发生重大法律动态时向机构发布提醒。

The recommendations of relevant ICMA repo working groups are periodically published as a Guide to Best Practice in the repo market, including the members-only Guides to Asia-Pacific Repo Markets. In addition, ICMA members are able to seek specific advice from the working group, which can draw on the expertise and experience of market participants and infrastructures.

ICMA相关回购工作组的建议会被定期发布为《回购市场最佳实践指南》，包括仅限ICMA会员访问的《亚太回购市场指南》。此外，有关机构可向工作组寻求具体建议，工作组可借助市场参与者和基础设施的专业知识和经验。

ICMA also publishes rules and recommendations for the secondary market (available to ICMA members only), which continues to support efficient cross-border repo trading.

ICMA还发布二级市场的规则和建议（仅限ICMA会员访问），以持续支持高效的跨境回购交易。

For membership enquiries, please contact ICMA Asia Pacific at apac@icmagroup.org.

如需会员相关的咨询，请联系ICMA亚太区：apac@icmagroup.org。

20 January 2026

The paper places recent growth in stablecoins in context, noting their rapid expansion alongside accelerating regulatory attention across major jurisdictions. While definitions and supervisory approaches differ, regulators are increasingly converging around core principles on reserves, redemption, safeguarding, and the prohibition of interest, with fragmentation remaining a central systemic risk.

From a capital markets perspective, the analysis focuses on the practical role of fiat-backed stablecoins as potential on-chain settlement assets, alongside wholesale CBDCs and tokenised bank liabilities.

The paper assesses where stablecoins may offer advantages, particularly in enabling programmable, 24/7 settlement and liquidity outside traditional cycles, while also highlighting material constraints.

These include regulatory limits on volumes and use cases, the absence of credit and interest, custody and technology risks, and operational costs linked to public blockchains.

Drawing on recent market initiatives and ICMA-led work under Project Guardian, the paper concludes that while stablecoins are unlikely to be a universal solution, they could play a complementary role in future market infrastructure if regulatory clarity improves and cross-border alignment deepens.

The paper is intended to inform ongoing discussions among issuers, intermediaries, investors, and policymakers on the evolution of digital settlement in capital markets.

Download the paper here.

To access the report, click here.

• Greenberg Traurig Limited, United Arab Emirates
• Mashreqbank psc, United Arab Emirates

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

16 December 2025

Drawing on the work of ICMA’s Electronic Trading Working Group and the FIX Fixed Income Axe Standards Working Group, the report provides a detailed account of how axe dissemination has evolved, the inconsistencies that have emerged, and the operational pressures arising from automation. It highlights several issues raised by market participants, including the reliability of axe information, divergent interpretations of what constitutes a genuine axe, the prevalence of two-way and algorithmic axes, and the growing impact of smart request-for-quote routing on dealer behaviour.

The paper also examines the challenges around information leakage. Both buy-side and sell-side contributors emphasise that the risk of sensitive position data being disseminated too widely, or repurposed without consent, limits the willingness of firms to share axes electronically. The report considers how tighter controls, clearer data fields and more robust connectivity could support market efficiency while preserving necessary confidentiality.

While the white paper does not set out recommended best practices, it provides a clearer articulation of the challenges facing the industry and is intended to support further discussion on how to improve the integrity, usefulness and safety of axe data in modern electronic trading environments.

It marks the first step in a joint ICMA FIX workstream aimed at supporting more reliable and effective pre-trade transparency in bond markets.

Download the ICMA guide to Asia Repo Markets: India (ICMA Members only)

This is the eighth in a series of reports on domestic repo markets that ICMA is publishing as part of its continued commitment to promoting the development of repo markets around the world. Guides to domestic repo markets in China, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam, were published in 2022 and 2023 (ICMA member login required), and Australia in 2024.

ICMA has played a significant role in promoting the international repo market since the 1990s. This includes the development of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA), which has become the principal master agreement for cross-border repos globally, as well as for many domestic repo markets, supported by annually updated legal opinions in over 70 jurisdictions (view a full list of jurisdictions covered by the 2025 legal opinions update).

The new, significantly shorter section 1000 focuses on high-level governance principles. Operational and procedural details, previously included in the ICMA Rules, have been moved to a new and separate Terms of Reference (“ToR”) specific to the ERCC. While not materially changing the operation of the various committees and working groups, the new structure allows for more efficient updates and provides greater transparency around committee processes.

Further details are set out in a related member circular.

See: ERCC Terms of Reference.

In responding to this discussion paper, ICMA convened a dedicated taskforce from its diverse membership. This was coordinated through ICMA’s European Repo and Collateral Council as well as through its Asset Management and Investor Council (AMIC). The Taskforce includes gilt-edged market maker (GEMM) repo traders, other active sell sides in the gilt repo market, as well as firms from the buy-side, including pension funds, insurers, UCITS asset managers, money market funds (MMFs), alternative investors (hedge funds), trading venues (cash and repo), central counterparties (CCPs), and custodians. Essentially, the Taskforce represents the entire gilt and gilt repo market ecosystem, and a diversity of perspectives and priorities.

In its response, ICMA recognises the important benefits of central clearing for gilt repo, and the potential for increased non-bank participation, not least in reducing counterparty credit risk and expanding liquidity provision. ICMA notes the initiatives currently being undertaken by CCPs to support broader clearing participation, while maintaining the integrity of CCP risk management frameworks. Furthermore, ICMA identifies a number of regulatory initiatives that could help to remove barriers to access and so encourage non-bank participation in central clearing.

However, based on the unanimous member consensus, ICMA strongly opposes the suggestion of mandatory clearing for gilt repo. This would increase costs and restrict access for some participants, undermine the maturity transformation function of repo intermediation, and increase procyclicality. It is also not clear what the purpose of mandating clearing would be, and that the arguments relating to transparency, leverage, or counterparty credit risk are each flawed in the context of the UK market. Ultimately this would be a cost, and a risk, to gilt market stability and so to the UK economy. Clearing should be a commercial choice based on cost and risk considerations of the market participant and their clients.

Also based on broad consensus of members, the suggestion of minimum haircuts for bilateral gilt repo is dismissed for a number of reasons. Prime among these are: the fact that haircuts are a transaction-level tool intended to hedge liquidation risk and not intended to manage leverage; they do not take account of firms’ individual, counterparty-level risk management frameworks and risk appetite; and that they can introduce an additional and unnecessary cost and friction to trading in benign markets while quickly becoming redundant in volatile markets.

ICMA identifies a number of other policy measures, beyond improving access to clearing, that could be considered to enhance gilt market resiliency. Chief among these is the potential for enhancements to the operational resilience of the Sterling Monetary Framework (SMF), which could be the most meaningful and ultimately valuable outcome of this consultation. Promoting bank risk-management practices, in a number of areas, could also be a positive contributor to market resilience.

A well-functioning repo market is critical to the smooth and efficient operation of the gilt and other sterling fixed income markets, as well as for the effective transmission of monetary policy. Any additional costs to accessing the gilt market are a cost to UK taxpayers and savers, while any measures that make the gilt market more vulnerable to market volatility, or threatens its ability to function normally, particularly in times of stress, is a direct threat to the UK Government’s growth agenda.

Registration to those WGs and TFs is restricted to the Members and Observers of the Principles.

Interested Members & Observers are invited to send their registration request to the Secretariat of the Principles at sustainabilitybonds@icmagroup.org at their earliest convenience and no later than 16 January 2026.

Please note that there is no automatic renewal of past registrations. Each organisation must reapply for this new term.

In order to keep each WG/TF relevant and manageable in terms of size, the involvement of participants is subject to adequate contributions of expertise and the operational capacity of the WG/TF.

Organisations can apply as:

• an active contributing member ("Active contributing members" are selected by the WG/TF Coordinators based on the candidacies of the interested parties. The required expertise can depend on the specific objectives as described in the ToR of each WG/TF. The number of active contributing members is limited.), or
• a participating member ("participating members" will be consulted as appropriate by the WG/TF Coordinators).

The detailed Terms of References (ToR) as well as the list of the WG/TF members will be published end of January 2026.

27 November 2025

• The growth in the survey sample largely reflected continued strong growth in euro-denominated repos against Italian and other “peripheral” eurozone government bonds, while the shares of repos against French, German and some other “core” government bonds continued to contract. US Treasuries continued to expand its share and they remain the largest collateral component in survey. UK gilt and, even more so, JGB repo also lost share.
• Strong activity in peripheral eurozone government bonds boosted the shares of the interdealer automatic trading systems (ATS) and also of CCP-clearing, reflecting the close connection between ATS and CCP. Data from the systems showed that outstanding ATS-traded repo reached a record size.
• Voice-brokers continued to recapture share.
• Automated trading systems, which serve the dealer-to-customer repo market, resumed rapid growth on the back of buoyant hedge fund trading.
• The share of tri-party repo in the repo books of the survey sample fell back slightly but the total value of outstanding tri-party repo positions (for the whole market and not just the survey sample) reached a new record.
• There was an across-the-board extension of average residual maturities, with larger shares for positions with two days and one month remaining, in part, reflecting official investors employing term repo for the re-investment of cash balances. This shift continues the expansion in the share of short-dated repo (one month or less to maturity) seen since 2023.
• In terms of net repo positions, the survey sample was a net borrower for one day and a net lender across all other maturities, increasing the degree of maturity transformation provided to the rest of the European repo market.
• The share of floating-rate repo recovered, which could suggest that the market is starting to discount the possibility of further central bank rate cuts.

• Pershing LLC, USA
• Swedbank AB, Lithuania

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

The associations welcome the reforms proposed that have the goal of revitalising the securitisation market in the EU, which is essential to the Savings and Investment Union (SIU), enables funding for SMEs, and supports Europe’s green and digital transitions.

However, increasing investor demand is also essential to revitalising the European securitisation market. The associations are concerned that certain measures currently being considered may discourage rather than encourage investment in securitisation.

In particular, the associations wish to highlight the following:

• The proposed reforms limit global market access, with fewer opportunities for EU savers and businesses to invest in non-EU securitisations.
• Investors are deterred by disproportionate monetary sanctions.
• Reclassifying private securitisations as public securitisations increases the reporting burden on these transactions, which are substantially private in nature or are not intended to fall within the EU securitisation framework.
• Reporting of private securitisations to repositories increases costs with no meaningful benefit.

The associations welcome the European Commission’s commitment to revitalising the EU securitisation market. However, certain elements of the current proposals risk undermining the very objectives they aim to achieve. Ahead of upcoming deliberations, the associations call on EU co-legislators to adopt a more proportionate, pragmatic, and globally aligned approach—one that truly reinvigorates the EU securitisation market and positions it as a vital tool for financing Europe’s growth.

View the full Statement.

19

The analysis sets out how a more transparent, standardised and diversified CP ecosystem could support deeper capital markets, enhance short term funding options for issuers and advance policy objectives under the European Commission’s Savings and Investments Union plan.

The paper highlights that the European market, valued at around EUR 1.27 trillion, is sizeable but fragmented across several distinct segments. While each works effectively in isolation, this fragmentation leads to operational complexity, uneven transparency and limited scalability compared with the more standardised US CP market. Despite these challenges, European CP has shown strong growth and resilience since 2022.

Key Highlights:

Transparency

• The absence of a consolidated, publicly accessible source of issuance and pricing data limits price discovery and market confidence. Centralised data aggregation, potentially via a European public authority, would support clearer curves, better valuation and more efficient secondary activity.

Standardisation

• Differences in documentation, settlement systems, denominations, maturities and governing law create friction and cost. Greater alignment in these areas could streamline operations, reduce legal complexity and improve accessibility for both issuers and investors.

Diversity of issuers and investors

• Broadening CP eligibility to a wider spectrum of credit profiles, alongside recalibrating elements of the MMF Regulation and Basel III, would boost supply and demand. Encouraging European retail participation in MMFs and reallocating corporate cash from deposits to market based instruments could materially expand the investor base.

Additional structural measures

• Growth in European asset backed commercial paper, a functioning repo market for CP, broader HQLA recognition and expanded central bank eligibility would all contribute to deeper liquidity and greater market stability.

Innovation

• With its contained scale and short term nature, the CP market is a strong candidate for process digitisation and DLT based solutions. Tokenised MMF units, in particular, hold potential to improve collateral mobility and reduce operational friction.

Overall, the paper concludes that targeted regulatory alignment, increased transparency, stronger standardisation and selective technological adoption can help unlock the full potential of the European CP market, enabling it to play a more central role in Europe’s short term funding landscape.

Download the full paper here.

Building on the initial GFIF published in November 2024, the latest reports represent an important step forward in the development of digital bond markets. They provide practical information on settlement assets, including wholesale CBDC, tokenised bank liabilities and regulated stablecoins, as well as a foundation to facilitate custody of tokenised instruments within fixed income markets.

The Fixed Income workstream brings together regulators, market infrastructures and financial institutions to explore the practical application of tokenisation and DLT in bond markets. The new deliverables draw on the collective expertise of a diverse group of global market participants to address two critical enablers for scaling DLT adoption: on-chain settlement mechanisms and robust custody models.

Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA, said: “ICMA is proud to continue its collaboration with MAS and leading market participants through Project Guardian. These publications reflect our shared ambition to shape the next generation of fixed income markets and ensure that innovation develops in a safe, efficient, and globally interoperable manner. As tokenisation advances, ICMA remains committed to supporting the industry through standards, transparency, and practical guidance.”

Gabriel Callsen, Senior Director, ICMA and Project Guardian workstream lead, added: “ICMA’s leadership of the Project Guardian Fixed Income workstream underscores its central role in fostering the digital evolution of international bond markets and aligns with its broader mission to promote well-functioning, cross-border capital markets that support sustainable economic growth.”

More information on ICMA’s FinTech and digitalisation initiatives, including its work on DLT, digital bonds, and tokenisation, can be found here.

The Principles are the global standard for the $6 trillion sustainable bond market that represents the largest source of market finance dedicated to sustainability and climate transition, available internationally to corporates and financial institutions, supranationals, agencies and sovereigns.

Key publications and resources released today are:

• The Climate Transition Bond Guidelines (CTBG), which introduce the use of Climate Transition Bond (CTB) as a standalone label for use-of-proceeds bonds, based on a definition and safeguards for Climate Transition Projects, alongside a preliminary, non-exhaustive list of project categories.
  
  Climate Transition Projects complement and typically go beyond the scope of the Green Bond Principles (GBP) in addressing today’s decarbonisation and emissions-reduction challenges, in pursuit of the goals of the Paris Agreement. The Guidelines also make recommendations for high-emission issuers of climate transition-themed Sustainability-Linked Bonds (SLBs).
  
  
• The new edition of the Climate Transition Finance Handbook (CTFH) references the Climate Transition Bond Guidelines and includes a new annex on transition-plan frameworks, as well as tools and methodologies available to assess their credibility.

See the Mapping of the Principles for a holistic overview.

The 2025 Annual Conference of the Principles is being held in hybrid format in Tokyo on Thursday, 6 November, co-hosted by the Japan Securities Dealers Association (JSDA). The full-day conference agenda combines keynote speeches and panel discussions with leading official sector and market representatives. It features key updates on the 2025 guidance from the Principles and explores critical topics in sustainable finance from a global perspective, including transition finance, nature and social bonds, green-enabling guidance, market integrity and regulation.

• Compliance markets dominate in scale and liquidity. Traded value in regulated allowance systems reached about USD 950 billion in 2024, with the EU ETS leading global activity.
• Growth in voluntary markets and carbon offsets will remain dependent on the evolution of aviation generated demand through CORSIA, as well as further progress on integrity and recognition.
• Offsets have a narrowly defined role in transition finance. Guidance, including ICMA’s Climate Transition Finance Handbook, limits offsets to residual emissions, but new structures such as World Bank outcome bonds show how they can contribute to innovation in sustainable bonds.
• Compliance markets and their international expansion fueled notably by the EU's CBAM represent the real opportunity centered on risk management and derivatives trading of carbon allowances.

• Carmo and Cerqueira, SROC, Lda., Portugal
• Chiomenti Studio Legale, Italy
• Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF), Philippines
• Nationwide Building Society, United Kingdom
• Natixis Investment Managers International, France
• Nomura Singapore Limited, Singapore

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

The paper provides information about the practical implications of the changes to the SI regime and the introduction of DPE/DR regimes, with some guidance that the de-registration of bond/derivative SIs is to be expected, with no adverse effect on post-trade reporting or the provision of liquidity.

View the paper

The Working Group was created as part of a broader restructuring of the IOSCO Affiliate Members Consultative Committee (AMCC), which introduced a number of new groups to better reflect IOSCO’s priority themes. The new Terms of Reference for the AMCC were approved by the IOSCO Board at its meeting in Doha in May 2025.

Representing ICMA in this role will be Andy Hill, Managing Director and Co-Head of Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, who will serve as Co-chair alongside Federico Cupelli of EFAMA. Andy has been ICMA’s main representative within the AMCC since 2017 and brings extensive experience, having previously chaired the AMCC Bond Market Liquidity Working Party.

Beyond this appointment, the ICMA secretariat will also play an active role across several other AMCC working groups, including those focused on Financial Innovation, Sustainable Finance, Emerging Risks, and Market Fragmentation. Together, these engagements ensure that ICMA members have a strong and influential voice at the highest levels of international standard-setting.

This development reflects the constructive and strategic relationship that ICMA has built with IOSCO in recent years, both through its active AMCC participation and through bilateral cooperation, such as joint work on regulatory capacity building in developing markets.

The template has been designed to reduce the often timely and costly negotiations undertaken between the parties to a transaction where confidential information might be exchanged and used. It has been produced and reviewed by a comprehensive sample of the market, and is intended to serve as a market standard to help streamline processes and increase efficiency and certainty around such transactions.

Nonetheless, use of this agreement is not mandatory, and some parties may prefer their own standard forms. In the context of investment grade and sub-investment grade bond transactions, this template may be considered appropriate and useful for debut, infrequent and/or emerging market issuers.

The confidentiality agreement template in Word format can be accessed from the Other ICMA primary market materials page on ICMA’s website. The confidentiality agreement template has also been included as new Appendix A3a in ICMA’s Primary Market Handbook, which contains guidance and recommendations on the processes and documentation required for the issuance of international debt securities.

The associated circular to members is available here for ICMA members and ICMA Primary Market Handbook subscribers only (login details required).

This is an important milestone towards strengthening the stability and sustainability of the financial sector in the KSA, bringing the Kingdom's financial infrastructure in line with international standards.

The ICMA GMRA 2025 opinions now include the netting coverage of 74 jurisdictions. All opinions cover at a minimum companies, banks and securities dealers. Most jurisdictions also cover insurance companies, hedge funds, mutual funds and pension funds (where generic coverage is possible) as parties to the GMRA.

ICMA offers members* a business-critical service through the provision of these annually updated legal opinions.

Full list of jurisdictions covered by the legal opinions

*Full access to the ICMA GMRA legal opinions is not provided to non-subscribing tier 3 and associate members. Official institution members are exempt from the subscription service. For more information and to subscribe, click here.

View the full list of Middle East, North Africa and Republic of Türkiye (MENAT) Committee members

They are also available to non-members on an annual subscription basis. Please refer to ICMA’s product information page for further information.

The Directories allow advanced searching, filtering and side-by-side comparison of FinTech platforms and solutions.

ICMA Primary Markets FinTech Directory

ICMA’s Primary Markets FinTech Directory compares the key features and capabilities of technology solutions available to automate all or part of the process of issuing debt securities. Building on ICMA’s work in primary bond markets, the directory’s purpose is to keep ICMA members informed about what platforms and technology solutions are available in a rapidly expanding competitive marketplace.

Comparables include: solution stage; eligible participants; debt securities; issuance method; market coverage; electronic bookbuilding transparency; allocation; supported electronic communication protocols & standards; and other services.

More information

ICMA Electronic Trading FinTech Directory

In light of the shift towards electronification, ICMA initially conducted a mapping exercise of electronic trading platforms (ETPs) and information networks in 2015. As this landscape continues to evolve, ICMA has undertaken to update this directory on a regular basis, expanding its scope both in terms of regions and solutions, for example including Organised Trading Facilities (OTFs) and Order and Execution Management Systems (OMS & EMS).

Comparables include: eligible participants; trading method; protocol type; counterparty visibility; securities; trade types; pre-trade practices; Decision Support Tools; delivery method; and supported electronic communication protocols & standards.

More information

ICMA Repo Trading FinTech Directory

ICMA’s Repo Trading FinTech Directory is intended to help market participants understand execution venues available for repo trading. The directory provides an overview of key platform characteristics such as differences in trading protocols, clearing and collateral configurations. The directory also provides information on the venues’ regulatory status, market identifier codes (MIC) and additional services on offer such as regulatory reporting under SFTR.

Comparables include: platform type; market type; eligible participants; trading method; counterparty transparency; Decision Support Tools; supported transaction types; supported collateral; support for tri-party; direct CCP connectivity; supported electronic communication protocols & standards; and other services.

More information

ICMA Operations FinTech Directory

ICMA’s ERCC Ops FinTech Working Group (WG) initially published a directory of over 80 technology solutions available for repo and cash bond operations in November 2017 and is regularly updated. The directory compares the capabilities of different providers and seeks to create greater transparency in a highly dynamic and fluid market. The directory is divided into 10 categories, including collateral management, exposure agreements and reconciliations.

Comparables include: lifecycle; product scope; type of solution; counterparty; pricing; and supported electronic communication protocols & standards.

More information

Anita will lead and drive ICMA’s overall international buy-side proposition and strategy, with a focus on engaging non-traditional asset managers and investors. She will work closely with the Asset Management and Investors Council (AMIC) to ensure ICMAs buy-side voice is well-represented in industry best practices and standard-setting initiatives and represent ICMA in key industry forums and events beyond AMIC, especially among non-traditional buy-side stakeholders.

Her extensive knowledge of ETFs, asset management, private credit, hedge funds, and digital transformation will be invaluable as ICMA continues to deepen its engagement with existing buy-side members and expand its buy-side footprint in response to ongoing changes in market structure. Anita will be supported by Irene Rey, who will continue to be the main point of contact for the AMIC, as confirmed by her role as AMIC Secretary. We believe that Anita and Irene are the right team to drive and broaden ICMA’s buy-side proposition.

Anita brings over two decades of experience in the financial services industry, with a particular focus on the buy-side and capital markets. She has held senior leadership roles across strategy, business development, and thought leadership, including at Rothschild’s Five Arrows Private Equity, eToro, Market Structure Partners, FlexTrade Systems, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Anita is also the creator of the Buy-Side Trading Community, a global multi-asset class initiative that has brought together over 950 senior trading professionals and has been instrumental in shaping market structure and regulatory dialogue.

Anita is passionate about diversity, inclusion, and mental health in the workplace, having spearheaded several high-profile campaigns such as #buysidewomen and #buysidementalhealth.

Please join us in welcoming Anita to ICMA. We are thrilled to have her on board and look forward to the energy, insight, and valuable contributions she will bring to our team and our members.

ICMA welcomes the efforts of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to broaden access for offshore investors to China’s repo market, including the potential application of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA). We have been actively contributing to the consultation process as per today’s announcement from the People’s Bank of China, China Securities Regulatory Commission, State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

ICMA and its membership are currently reviewing the final rules in detail to ensure that they will effectively facilitate title-transfer repo transactions from a legal, operational, and governance perspective and will continue to closely monitor the evolving landscape of China’s repo market, both onshore and offshore. ICMA remains committed to supporting the use of the GMRA in cross-border repo transactions and to working constructively with Chinese regulators to strengthen legal certainty around close-out netting enforceability in China.

ICMA believes that these developments mark an important step in the ongoing reforms to deepen China’s capital markets and to enhance opportunities for all market participants.

The Board has also elected Gareth Allen, Head of Investment and Execution, UBS AG, London, as Vice Chair of ICMA for a term until the ICMA Annual General Meeting in 2026.

Learn more about the function of the ICMA board and view a full list of its members

The paper explains the purpose of haircuts, which is often misunderstood, and why in some instances so-called negative haircuts can be entirely warranted. It also discusses the use of aggregate margining, as an efficient alternative to applying haircuts at the individual transaction level, as well as outlining the natural incentives for applying haircuts where it makes commercial sense. Finally, it lays out the implications of a deeper understanding of haircuts for policy makers, particularly from the perspective of managing leverage. It suggests that just as haircut data do not tell us very much about systemic leverage or potential risks to financial stability, the conclusion may be that nor are haircuts an effective policy tool for managing such risks.

Read Demystifying Repo Haircuts

The landmark event has already secured the backing of South Africa’s four leading banks—Absa, Nedbank, RMB, and Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking—as platinum sponsors, with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) joining as a strategic partner. In addition, a number of other local African, regional and international institutions, including DFIs, law firms, service providers and members of the insurance market have already confirmed their support and sponsorship. Together, this support underscores the Summit’s role in bringing Africa’s debt markets together, as well as creating a collaborative, inclusive, industry-led platform to advance Africa’s loan and bond markets.

The Summit aims to bring together more than 1,000 senior stakeholders from across Africa and internationally—including issuers, investors, regulators, DFIs, and banks—for two days of strategic dialogue, networking and technical exchange. The programme will focus on:

• Capital market development and regional integration across both the loan and bond markets
• Sustainable finance and climate transition
• Regulatory innovation and financial inclusion
• Blended finance, FinTech, and digitalisation
• Market infrastructure and trading platforms

To promote broad participation, both ICMA and LMA members, as well as official sector representatives, will receive a number of complimentary passes. In addition, sponsors will benefit from a generous allocation of passes for their staff and clients. Delegate pricing has been set at an accessible level for non-members to ensure inclusive access for a wide range of market participants from across the region and will include complimentary 2026 LMA membership for those purchasing two or more passes.

Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA, said: “This summit marks an important milestone in our work to support African capital market development. By combining our networks, expertise and deep regional relationships, ICMA and the LMA are uniquely positioned to deliver an impactful, market-led event. We are proud to collaborate with the LMA to amplify African voices and connect them with the global financial community.”

Scott McMunn, Chief Executive of the LMA, commented: “Africa is a vital and dynamic region for both the loan and bond markets. This summit will illustrate both their unique features and interconnectedness, as well as provide an inclusive platform for knowledge-sharing, relationship-building, and thought leadership across the continent. Combining our unrivalled expertise across both the loan and bond markets for the first time, we look forward to working with ICMA and our members to ensure the programme reflects both the opportunities and complexities inherent to African debt.”

The summit builds on years of local engagement by both organisations, including ICMA’s support for repo market-building in over ten Sub-Saharan jurisdictions, and the LMA’s production of legal documentation tailored for the African loan market, extensive regional event programme and growing African membership.

Registration for the summit will open on 15 September 2025. Further details, including the agenda and speaker line-up, will be shared in due course.

Authorities and financial institutions across Africa who are interested in a speaking role in the programme are invited to contact Amelia Slocombe, LMA, and Allan Malvar, ICMA.

27 August 2025

• A sovereign edition (this report)
• A corporate edition (to follow)

One of the core objectives of MiFID II/MiFIR was to provide greater public transparency of secondary trading activity in the EU and UK markets. As solutions have evolved to consolidate the disperse sources of public data, ICMA has sought to leverage the capabilities of such initiatives to provide a detailed and holistic view of bond market activity in the EU and UK.

It is estimated that the report captures more than 80% of all secondary bond market transactions reported in the EU and UK and is therefore relatively representative of the aggregated bond market data as reported under the MiFID II/MiFIR obligation.

This report, which follows the report published for H2 2024,  provides 42 months of bond market data, covering the period January 2022 through to June 2025.  ICMA believes that this latest data set provides a more accurate representation than the previous report.

ICMA commits to updating this report on a semi-annual basis in order to be able to track long-term trends in secondary bond market structure and activity.
ICMA also expects that in time both the depth and quality of the underlying data will improve, particularly as reports such as this seek to present a definitive picture of the European bond markets.

• Blackletter LLC, Singapore
• China Bohai Bank Co., Ltd., China
• Coronation Securities Limited, Nigeria
• Danmarks Skibskredit A/S, Denmark
• Debt Issuers Association (DIA), South Africa

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

• Colin Chen, MUFG Bank, Ltd
• Vicky Cheng, Bloomberg L.P.
• Samuel Gan, SGX Bond Trading Pte. Ltd.
• Hyelin Han, The Bank of New York Mellon
• Mak Judge, Barclays Bank PLC
• Valerie Ng, Maybank Investment Bank Berhad

View the full list of Asia Pacific Committee members

ICMA extends its sincere thanks to Ashish Malholtra, the outgoing Chair, for his leadership and significant contributions over his six-year term, which have helped strengthen ICMA’s presence and impact across Asia-Pacific. Ashish will continue to serve as a member of the Committee representing Standard Chartered.

View the course content.

Empowering Financial Professionals in the Region
Targeted at early to mid-career professionals from Saudi Arabia, the GCC and other interested international jurisdictions, the course is relevant to those working in investment banking, asset management, regulatory authorities, finance ministries, and market infrastructure institutions. It offers a valuable platform for cross-border knowledge sharing, reinforcing the Kingdom’s position as a regional financial hub.

Commenting on the launch, Bryan Pascoe, CEO of ICMA, said: “We are pleased to collaborate with the Financial Academy to support Saudi Arabia’s ambitious capital market transformation. This programme reflects ICMA’s commitment to combining global standards with local insights to build both institutional and human capacity for sustainable market growth.”

Mana bin Mohammed Al Khamsan, CEO of The Financial Academy, added: “At the Financial Academy, we are pleased to announce the launch of the “Professional Certificate in Introduction to Saudi Capital Markets,” in collaboration with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). This strategic partnership supports our mission to empower national talent and strengthen skills in the capital markets. The certificate offers a solid introduction to the structure of the Saudi capital market, key financial instruments—including equities, bonds, and sukuk—and the roles of major market participants. Through this collaboration, we reaffirm our commitment to international best practices and to advancing Saudi Vision 2030 by contributing to a more competitive and dynamic financial sector.”

Programme Details
The Saudi Capital Markets Training Programme covers the fundamentals of debt and equity markets, sukuk, sustainable finance, derivatives, securities financing, and market infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Combining global best practice with local market context, it aims to equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the Kingdom’s rapidly evolving capital market ecosystem.

The programme will be delivered in English as livestreamed training in a virtual classroom and includes interactive sessions, real-world case studies and assessments. Upon successful completion, participants will receive a digital certificate recognising their foundational understanding of Saudi Arabian and international capital markets.

For more information and to register your interest visit the ICMA's website or the Financial Academy's website.

Find out more about ICMA's work supporting technical assistance and capacity building programmes.

In addition, Emmanuelle Trochu, Global Head of Official Institutions coverage at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, has been named Vice Chair. She joins the existing Vice Chairs, Ibrahima Kobar, Head of Private Debt Strategy and Business Development at Natixis Investment Managers, and Élie Lewi, Head of the Markets Directorate at Banque de France.

Jean-Luc Lamarque, who previously served as Chair of the France & Monaco Regional Committee, was appointed Chair of ICMA following the recent Annual General Meeting held in Frankfurt.

Commenting on these appointments, Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA, said: “Marc-Etienne has been an engaged member of ICMA for many years. His deep market expertise, insights, and extensive network will be invaluable in further strengthening the committee. The France and Monaco Regional Committee has long been among our most active committees, not only maintaining a strong focus on the regulatory landscape in France but also fostering a vibrant programme of events and discussions for the community.”

ICMA’s regional committees play a pivotal role in linking members with the association’s global priorities. They promote dialogue among market participants and ensure that policy and practice reflect the unique perspectives of each jurisdiction. Acting as a bridge between ICMA’s working groups, advisory councils, and regional markets, these committees support the development of resilient and well-functioning capital markets.

View the full list of France & Monaco Committee members

• Raiffeisen bank d.d. Bosna i Hercegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc., United States

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

ICMA has been proactively engaging with Chinese member firms and regulators regarding the opening up of China’s onshore repo market to global investors. In February last year, ICMA submitted a response to the PBoC consultation on further opening up China’s repo market to offshore investors, potentially through the use of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA).

One of the key policy outcomes of the 11th UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue concluded in January this year was the commitment to further collaboration between the PBoC and ICMA to support China’s adoption of the GMRA for cross-border repo transactions.

Earlier in January, the HKMA announced a new offshore repo arrangement, enabling Northbound Bond Connect participants to use onshore bonds to conduct RMB repo transactions. During the initial phase, these transactions must involve at least one designated market maker and be settled through the triparty repo services provided by the CMU which commenced in February. Participants may either choose the GMRA or the Bond Repurchase Master Agreement issued by the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) as their master agreement.

ICMA will continue to closely monitor developments in China’s evolving repo landscape (both onshore and offshore), particularly in relation to market opportunities and challenges arising from ongoing reforms. ICMA also remains committed to promoting the use of the GMRA for cross-border repo transactions and to working with relevant Chinese regulators to enhance legal certainty around the enforceability of close-out netting in China.

We welcome any market observations, comments, or recommendations regarding the latest offshore repo arrangements. Please reach out to Alex Tsang to share your feedback.

In today’s competitive and fast-evolving landscape, ICMA-Certified enables professionals to demonstrate applied skills, strengthen their credibility with clients and employers, and accelerate their careers across front, middle, and back-office roles.

ICMA-Certified combines two assessed courses—Advanced and Specialist level—into structured pathways across four focus areas:

• Primary Debt Capital Markets
• Fixed Income Trading & Portfolio Management
• Financial Markets Operations
• Sustainable Finance

Participants who complete each programme successfully earn an ICMA-Certified credential - a digital, verifiable qualification recognised internationally for trust, competence, and professional commitment.

Four Professional Pathways

• ICMA-Certified Primary Market Professional
  Combines the Primary Market Certificate (PMC) and Introduction to Securitisation courses, equipping professionals involved in debt issuance with deep technical knowledge and regulatory insight.
• ICMA-Certified Fixed Income Trader & Portfolio Manager
  Integrates the Fixed Income Certificate (FIC) with Fixed Income Portfolio Management & Construction, offering comprehensive expertise in trading, valuation, and portfolio optimisation.
• ICMA-Certified Operations Professional
  Brings together the Operations Certificate Programme (OCP) and Collateral Management courses to build expertise in post-trade operations, collateral processes, and operational risk.
• ICMA-Certified Sustainable Finance Professional
  Combines the Sustainable Bond Certificate with Transition Finance, enabling professionals to master sustainable finance frameworks and instruments.
  Flexible Delivery and Global Recognition

ICMA-Certified programmes are delivered through in-person training, livestreamed virtual classrooms, or a combination of both, providing flexibility to accommodate professionals worldwide.

Marc Granville, Senior Director and Head of Education & Training at ICMA, commented: “ICMA-Certified sets a new standard for professional development in capital markets. By combining rigorous assessments, practical learning, and recognised certification, we are equipping market participants with the tools to succeed in today’s evolving financial markets.”

The organisation’s education and training is accredited by the CPD^® Certification Service and aligned with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).

For more information, register your interest through the ICMA-Certified webpages, or contact education@icmagroup.org.

As Saudi Arabia’s financial markets continue to grow particularly in repo and derivatives markets, aligning the legal framework for netting with global standards is essential.

It provides:

• Legal certainty for market participants (both domestic and international)
• Reduced systemic risk
• Enhanced market liquidity

Regulatory Developments

Two key regulatory bodies in Saudi Arabia are driving these reforms:

• Saudi Central Bank – SAMA: Published regulations to recognise the enforceability of close-out netting agreements.
• Capital Market Authority (CMA): Issued draft regulations further clarifying the enforceability and recognition of such agreements across capital market transactions.

These steps aim to align Saudi law with international best practices (e.g. EU Financial Collateral Directive, US Bankruptcy Code safe harbors), providing clarity that netting agreements will be enforceable even in insolvency scenarios.

More information from ISDA on close out netting here.

GMRA legal opinion for Saudi Arabia

ICMA - International Capital Market Association is actively supporting this process by commissioning a Saudi netting opinion specifically for the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA), the leading master agreement for repo transactions worldwide. The legal opinion will help give market participants and their compliance teams the assurance that repo transactions documented under the GMRA will be enforceable under Saudi law.

We expect this opinion to be published later this year.

Contact Information

If you’d like more information, you can contact: Deena Seoudy, ICMA

ICMA provides GMRA legal opinions for 73 jurisdictions worldwide, to find out more, see ICMA GMRA Legal Opinions.

The roadmap contains a set of recommendations developed collaboratively by association representatives and workstream leads from various industry segments, and its technical workstreams, with broad industry representation. These non-legally binding recommendations are designed to serve as a practical, expert-led framework to assist market participants in identifying and addressing the most critical operational considerations and to support firms’ preparations and budget allocations.

Today’s release marks the culmination of five months’ work on the recommendations and the Industry Committee’s publication of the roadmap, which has also been shared with the EU T+1 Coordination Committee.

As a full member of the EU T+1 Industry Committee, ICMA has been actively involved in the work on the Roadmap, including providing the Secretariat for the Technical Workstreams on Trading (jointly with FESE) and Securities Financing (jointly with ISLA).

See full press release here.

The Principles are the voluntary standard for the global $6 trillion sustainable bond market that represents the largest source of market finance dedicated to sustainability and climate transition, available to corporates and financial institutions, as well as supranationals, agencies and sovereigns.

The key publication released today is Sustainable Bonds for Nature: A Practitioner’s Guide. This Guide is meant to be used in conjunction with the Principles and is intended for use by all types of issuers (private and public sector). It acts as an additional thematic guidance for use of proceeds (UoP) bonds such as green bonds or sustainability bonds to finance projects supporting nature, considering that such activities span all eligible green project categories. It also provides issuers of green bonds with proceeds exclusively applied to finance nature-related projects with the option to use the secondary designation of a “Nature Bond”.

The Guide otherwise points to the potential for sustainability-linked bonds to incorporate nature-related key performance indicators (KPIs). The table in the appendix provides a list of indicative nature-related projects under the 10 eligible green categories of the Green Bond Principles (GBP), as well as relevant impact reporting indicators including some from the Harmonised Framework for Impact Reporting, as well as new ones.

The Executive Committee of the Principles has also released today various guidance documents and updates that complement existing publications, specifically:

• An update of the Green Bond Principles with a clear reference to the Green Enabling Projects Guidance and an extension of the definition of Green Projects to include “activities” (this second point being also mirrored in the Social Bond Principles).
• A new Example Checklist to provide support to users in demonstrating how their projects align with the Green Enabling Projects Guidance document. It contains illustrative examples and counterexamples for four out of the five sectors listed in the Guidance.
• Dedicated FAQs added as an annex to both the Guidelines for Sustainability-Linked Loans financing Bonds (SLLBs) and the Guidance for Green Enabling Projects, originally published in June 2024.
• Additional impact reporting metrics and sector specific guidance concerning Access to essential services, as well as a new annex regarding Potential Environmental and/or Social Risks Associated with Eligible Project Categories included in the Harmonised Framework for Impact Reporting for Social Bonds.
• An expansion of the SLB Illustrative KPIs Registry, related to environmental and social themes as well as additional KPIs for sovereign issuers and a revision of the definition of secondary KPIs.
• A single document integrating all guidance on allocation reporting, the Guidance on Allocation Reporting, to facilitate its understanding and application.

Finally, the Executive Committee of the Principles updated its Guidance Handbook (Q&A) confirming the likely ineligibility of defence projects for Green, Social and Sustainability (GSS) Bonds while underlining the role of Social Bonds in supporting vulnerable populations with dedicated projects in fragile and conflict states.

See the Mapping of the Principles for a holistic overview.

The Principles also announced the renewal of half of the 24 members of its Executive Committee following an annual vote in line with its governance.

The standards and guidance from the Principles are developed with the input of over 340 market participants and stakeholders, as well as the participation of many other organisations through technical working groups. The Principles are the de facto market standard referenced by over 98% of sustainable bond issuance.

The 2025 Annual Conference of the Principles will be held in hybrid format in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, 6 November, and will be co-hosted by the Japan Securities Dealers Association (JSDA).

Isabelle Laurent, Deputy Treasurer, EBRD and Chair of the Principles, said: “The Principles continue to highlight and support the importance of transparency in underpinning the integrity of the GSSS bond market, including through new guidance and metrics, which is key to the ongoing development of this global market”.

Nicholas Pfaff, Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Sustainable Finance, ICMA said: “The Principles add further to their extensive thematic guidance for issuers by now providing detailed guidance to support the financing of nature projects by sustainable bonds, while also publishing other important updates and resources notably for green enabling projects”.

Agnes Gourc, Head of Sustainable Capital Markets, DCM Structuring & Solutions, BNP Paribas and Vice-Chair of the Principles, said: “The extensive work delivered each year by the ExCom, assisted by the Working Groups, is unique. The ExCom of the Principles remains indeed the only body supporting the development of the sustainable bond market worldwide. This year again, the Principles have kept evolving, developing a new Practitioner’s Guide on Sustainable Bonds for Nature, but also providing additional Q&As on new guidance released last year for Green Enabling Projects and Sustainability-Linked Loans financing Bonds”.

Alban de Fay, Head of Fixed Income SRI Processes, Senior Portfolio Manager, AMUNDI and Vice-Chair of the Principles said: “The latest publications under the ICMA’s Principles demonstrate again our ability to innovate and to take into account necessary new evolutions to ensure the development and proper standardization of the sustainable bond market. It reinforces ICMA’s Principle’s commitment to advancing overall sustainable finance particularly by supporting nature-positive investments worldwide, ensuring that capital flows not only to climate solutions but also to the preservation and restoration of biodiversity. The release of the Nature Guide is indeed a necessary key step to support projects in favour of nature and biodiversity, a crucial topic that meets many growing expectations in this area”.

• First International Bank of Israel Ltd., Israel
• Franklin Templeton International Services S.à r.l., Luxembourg
• Hidden Road Partners CIV US LLC, United States
• SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., United States
• Tokenovate Limited, United Kingdom
• Wells Fargo Bank International Unlimited Company, Ireland

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

The board subsequently elected Jean-Luc Lamarque, Chairman Primary Credit, Credit Agricole CIB, London as the ICMA chair. He replaces Janet Wilkinson who stepped down at the end of her term as an ICMA board member.

The following were elected to the Board:

• Abena Amoah, CEO, Managing Director, Ghana Stock Exchange, Accra
• Stephen Fisher, Head of Government and Public Affairs, Deutsche Bank, London
• Christoph Hock, Head of Tokenisation and Digital Assets (PM), Union Investment, Frankfurt
• Jean-Luc Lamarque, Chairman Primary Credit, Credit Agricole CIB, London
• Henrik Raber, Global Head, Global Banking, Standard Chartered, Dubai
• Claudio Vittorio Volpi, Head of ALM and Funding, UniCredit GmbH, Munich
• Min Zhu, Chief Market Officer, Bank of China London Branch, Bank of China (UK) Ltd., London

View the full list of ICMA board members

The Guardian Fixed Income Framework (GFIF), first published in November 2024 under Project Guardian, sets the stage for a structured, secure and innovative environment to enable digital transformation within fixed income markets in Asia-Pacific and beyond. In 2025, ICMA’s leadership in this workstream will focus primarily on two critical areas: Delivery versus Payment (DvP) settlement and custody arrangements for DLT-based debt securities.

The workstream will draw on ICMA’s expertise and guidance such as the DLT Bonds Reference Guide and its longstanding collaboration with stakeholders across the spectrum of international debt capital markets to foster DLT-based bond markets as a reliable source of funding and avoid market fragmentation.

Gabriel Callsen, Senior Director, ICMA, said: “ICMA is honoured to collaborate with MAS and other members of Project Guardian to lead this pivotal workstream. We look forward to collaborating closely with MAS and industry participants to facilitate scaling of DLT-based bond markets. This role underscores ICMA’s commitment to enhancing interoperability and efficiency in global capital markets through digital innovation, furthering our mission to support sustainable economic growth.”

ICMA’s role in the workstream highlights its continued leadership and advocacy in fintech and digital transformation, aligning with its broader strategy to promote well-functioning and resilient cross-border capital markets. More information on ICMA’s fintech and digitalisation initiatives, including its work on distributed ledger technology (DLT), can be found here.

Geert Arlman
S&P Global Limited

Anna Delgado
Ashurst LLP

Laure Fauchet
DTCC Europe Limited

Jon Ford
Pirum Systems Limited

Carla Grundy
TP ICAP Markets Limited

Alex Malitsky (Chair of the ICMA Future Leaders Committee)
The Toronto-Dominion Bank

Nigel Owen
TreasurySpring Management (Jersey) Limited

Celia Price
Mizuho International plc

15 May 2025

ICMA believes that the answer to this is to create a more even, but proportionate, playing field with respect to non-bank regulatory reporting, as well a cross-jurisdictional framework for the sharing of regulatory data and the coordination of market surveillance.

Download the ICMA position paper

ICMA does not believe that applying a one-size-fits-all macroprudential framework to non-banks, or additional layers of prudential regulation to banks, is an appropriate or proportionate solution to what is in effect an issue with market oversight.

ICMA would add that rigorous rules, at least in the EU context, already apply to asset management firms, OEFs and MMFs, which make further measures unjustified. Meanwhile, more can be done to help promote market liquidity and resilience, address risks related to procyclicality, and remove barriers to central clearing.

• Borsa Italiana S.p.A., Italy
• Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., United States
• Charles Schwab Bank, SSB, United States
• Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB, United States
• Charles Schwab Trust Bank, United States
• Daiwa Capital Markets Singapore Limited, Singapore
• International Trading System Limited, Kazakhstan
• Korea Securities Depository (KSD), Republic of Korea
• National Bank of Kuwait (International) plc, United Kingdom
• Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski Spółka Akcyjna, Poland

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

Kumeshen is Head of Debt Capital Markets, Absa Group Ltd, while Louis is Head of Debt Capital Markets for Investec. Both are based in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa.

Responding to the appointments, Bryan Pascoe, ICMA Chief Executive, said "We look forward to the leadership of Kumeshen and Louis in strengthening the ICMA community in Southern Africa, as well as with members and the broader market across the African region. Their guidance will be instrumental in supporting ICMA’s role in the development of robust markets across the continent."

Regional committees represent a key component of ICMA’s work in the capital market, connecting our forums, working groups and advisory structures with local participants, thereby providing guidance on how our initiatives can serve the whole market thoroughly and effectively. 

ICMA would also like to thank the contributions of the previous Chair and Vice Chair of the region, Monwabisi Zukani and Gillian Raine. We look forward to continued close collaboration with them.

Click here for a full list of members of the Southern Africa committee.

The 2025 opinions include a new addition for Northern Ireland, increasing the netting coverage to 73 jurisdictions. Coverage of the Digital Assets Annex is now also included across 6 jurisdictions: Belgium, England, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

All opinions cover at a minimum; companies, banks and securities dealers, most jurisdictions also cover insurance companies, hedge funds, mutual funds and pension funds (where generic coverage is possible) as parties to the GMRA.

Regulators require repo transactions to be subject to agreements like the GMRA, supported by regularly updated legal opinions, in order to reduce regulatory capital requirements through close-out netting. ICMA legal opinions enable members to realise these significant regulatory capital benefits.

ICMA offers members* a business-critical service through the provision of these annually updated legal opinions.

Full list of jurisdictions covered by the legal opinions

*Full access to the ICMA GMRA legal opinions is not provided to non-subscribing tier 3 and associate members. Official institution members are exempt from the subscription service. For more information and to subscribe, see here.

• Regarding the timing of written allocations and confirmations, ICMA recommends a single deadline by the end of trade date, in line with the approach taken in the UK and US.
• ICMA supports ESMA’s proposal to require “electronic, machine-readable” formats for written allocations and confirmations.
• ICMA supports the use of open communication procedures and standards but argues against imposing a specific standard at this stage, such as ISO20022.
• ICMA strongly supports the proposal to require all CSDs to offer hold and release and auto-partialling functionality which are both key tools to support settlement efficiency. These should be further complemented by partial release functionality which is equally important and should be made available by all CSDs.
• As regards the use of auto-partialling, ICMA advocates for a stronger mandate than suggested by ESMA. In particular, we suggest that auto-partialling should become the default and parties should only be able to opt-out if strictly necessary and bilaterally agreed.
• Finally, the consultation also covers a number of other important aspects of settlement efficiency, including the use of Unique Transaction Identifiers (UTIs), Standard Settlement Instructions (SSIs), as well as the use of other important settlement optimisation tools, such as shaping and automatic securities borrowing and lending services offered by the ICSDs. While these are all important aspects that should be further encouraged, we agree with ESMA that these do not require for the time being any additional regulatory mandates. Instead, the ongoing work on T+1 offers an opportunity to agree strong and detailed recommendations in relation to all of those aspects and ICMA will play a constructive and pro-active role in these discussions, particularly when it comes to shaping and other optimisation tools.
  

In terms of next steps, further to the consultation deadline, ESMA will be reviewing the feedback received and will work on a report for the European Commission (expected in Q3). The Commission, the European Parliament as well as the Council will then have an opportunity to review the proposals before they are adopted, currently expected in Q1 2026.

ICMA values the work IOSCO is doing to provide more public intelligence on the use of AI in capital markets, and in general, aligns with the key findings of the report, including that benefits and risks of AI in financial services are highly dependent on the type of AI technology used, how it is developed and for what purpose.

ICMA also agrees that, in some cases, the terminology used to discuss AI has not always been clear, and certain terms have been used to cover a multitude of different aspects of AI with distinctive and different qualities. ICMA remains available to assist with any efforts made to address these challenges, such as defining a set of boundaries to clarify some of the terminology, to work towards a more productive and consistent global dialogue on the topic.

ICMA members note that models, such as LLM’s and others used in Gen AI systems, can require significant computational resources and energy consumption in both their training and usage. Likewise, IOSCO also highlights the large amounts of memory required to store LLM’s, and the subsequent contribution AI usage might make to environmental risks. Further exploration on this topic would be of particular interest to the debt capital markets industry, due to the cross-cutting theme of ESG.

It may also be beneficial for IOSCO to consider establishing a set of minimum general principles governing AI. IOSCO’s composition of global financial service regulators, in addition to recent guidance and regulatory initiatives on the topic of AI, such as ESMA’s 2024 guidance to firms using AI in investment services and HKSAR’s policy statement on responsible AI in the financial sector, provide an opportunity for IOSCO to further reflect on common themes and facilitate convergence at an international level between regulators in the financial sector.

View the response.

Key points:

1. Investor demand for a DIGIT will be dependent on the characteristics of a DIGIT, individual investors’ strategies, cost-benefit considerations, as well as the ‘DLT readiness’ of investors’ custodians and sub-custodians, amongst other aspects.
2. While the high-level expectation is that a DIGIT issuance will catalyse the market development as a whole and mark the starting point for further issuances, there is no clear consensus amongst different types of investors.
3. As the first sovereign issuance by the UK, DIGIT has the potential to shape the evolution of the DLT-based Gilt market and the wider DLT-based bond ecosystem. DIGIT has an opportunity to address interoperability challenges and build on existing industry initiatives such as ICMA’s Bond Data Taxonomy (BDT), to avoid further fragmentation and bridge traditional and DLT-based debt securities.
4. To mitigate the risk of market fragmentation, harmonisation of practices and collaboration on common standards will continue to be critical in order to foster the development of DLT-based bond markets as a reliable source of funding both for the public sector and the wider economy.

Given that a majority of questions are targeted at individual firms, we have encouraged constituents across ICMA’s global membership to respond individually to those questions.

View the response.

9 April 2025 

The survey measured and analysed the value of outstanding repo plus reverse repo on the books of 61 participants at close of business on 11 December 2024. Given that the ICMA surveys a sample of the European repo market, the headline number must be taken as the minimum size of the European market.

Download the 48th ICMA ERCC European Repo Market Survey.

The total value of repos and reverse repos still outstanding on the books of the 61 entities who participated in the latest survey fell back 2.3% year-on-year to EUR 10,860 billion. The latest total represents the first contraction since June 2020, but was presaged by a deceleration in the rate of growth over the previous 18 months.

Summary of key findings:

• It is important to note that his latest survey covers the period prior to the tariff regime introduced by the current US administration.
  The results show the first downturn in market size since June 2020 - though unlike the temporary Covid-induced dip, this decline may reflect a more structural shift. 
• The transition from quantitative easing (QE) to quantitative tightening (QT) appears to have hit trading in specific collateral in particular, prompting questions over whether this marks a true turning point for the market.
• In H2 2024, a shift in balance sheet allocation away from Europe and toward the US was also evident, as trading opportunities in the euro area were perceived as relatively weaker. Correspondingly, European demand for US Dollars and US Treasuries continued to increase, now reaching record levels in collateral holdings.
• Meanwhile, some core eurozone bonds saw diminished investor interest, mirrored in subdued activity across automatic trading systems (ATS) and central counterparty clearing (CCP) platforms. These dynamics may be linked to political uncertainty and the heavier issuance of government securities.

3 April 2025 

Previous versions of this report included both corporate and sovereign analysis. Following readers’ input and feedback, the report is now published in two different editions:

• A corporate edition (this report)
• A sovereign edition (released 21 March)

One of the core objectives of MiFID II/MiFIR was to provide greater public transparency of secondary trading activity

It is estimated that the report captures more than 80% of all secondary bond market transactions reported in the EU and UK and is therefore relatively representative of the aggregated bond market data as reported under the MiFID II/MiFIR obligation.

This report, which follows the report published for H1 2024, provides 36 months of bond market data, covering the period January 2022 through to December 2024. ICMA believes that this latest data set provides a more accurate representation than the previous report.

ICMA commits to updating this report on a semi-annual basis in order to be able to track long-term trends in secondary bond market structure and activity. ICMA also expects that in time both the depth and quality of the underlying data will improve, particularly as reports such as this seek to present a definitive picture of the European bond markets.

28 March 2025 

• How to report Sponsored Repo and other guaranteed or indemnified repo
• How to report variable-rate repo
• How to report a fixed-term, fixed-rate repo scheduled to pay interest during its term
• Reporting obligations of foreign branches in the UK
• Is a non-EEA asset manager of an EEA AIF reported?
• Where is the Jurisdiction of the Issuer?
• What is the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) of the Issuer?
• Reporting a pool of security and cash collateral
• Reporting variation margin of sub-portfolios

For context, the ICMA Recommendations for Reporting under SFTR  aim to help members interpret the regulatory reporting framework specified by ESMA in the EU and the FCA in the UK and set out complementary best practice recommendations to provide additional clarity and address ambiguities in the official guidance. The document has been developed over the past few years based on extensive feedback from members of the ERCC’s SFTR Task Force, which represents over 150 firms covering the whole spectrum of the market. The Guide is not an alternative to the regulatory texts and the practices set out therein are recommendations only.

A blackline version has been published alongside the Guide, highlighting recent changes. ICMA’s SFTR Recommendations will continue to evolve in response to regulatory guidance as well as the ongoing discussions within the ERCC SFTR Taskforce.

ICMA members also have access to a range of additional best practice documents that complement the Recommendations. 

For further information about ICMA’s work in relation to SFTR, please check the main SFTR webpage or contact us.

25 March 2025 

Recent regulatory initiatives in the EU and the UK around fund categorisation, labelling, and naming will significantly impact a largely European industry that already reorganised in response to the EU’s SFDR in 2019.

In this paper, we identify the implications of these regulations while looking at current market practices based on the results of a targeted research and building on our prior publications.

We conclude by proposing priorities for a common roadmap for regulators and the market, while also making several recommendations relating, among other factors, (i) to consistency for a future SFDR review to avoid future disruption and/or discouragement of the sustainable fund market which will have substantially rebranded because of recent initiatives, (ii) to inclusiveness for the assessment of sustainable investments which should be feasible thanks to official and leading market taxonomies, as well as other established assessment tools, and, (iii) to the need to identify investments, such as those in the fossil and hard-to-abate sectors, that cannot necessarily be accommodated by other sustainable funds to grow transition-themed funds resulting from EU and UK regulations.

21 March 2025 

Previous versions of this report included both sovereign and corporate analysis. Following readers’ input and feedback, the report will now be published in two different editions:

• A sovereign edition (this report)
• A corporate edition (to follow)

One of the core objectives of MiFID II/MiFIR was to provide greater public transparency of secondary trading activity in the EU and UK markets. As solutions have evolved to consolidate the disperse sources of public data, ICMA has sought to leverage the capabilities of such initiatives to provide a detailed and holistic view of bond market activity in the EU and UK.

It is estimated that the report captures more than 80% of all secondary bond market transactions reported in the EU and UK and is therefore relatively representative of the aggregated bond market data as reported under the MiFID II/MiFIR obligation.

This report, which follows the report published for H1 2024,  provides 36 months of bond market data, covering the period January 2022 through to December 2024.  ICMA believes that this latest data set provides a more accurate representation than the previous report.

ICMA commits to updating this report on a semi-annual basis in order to be able to track long-term trends in secondary bond market structure and activity. ICMA also expects that in time both the depth and quality of the underlying data will improve, particularly as reports such as this seek to present a definitive picture of the European bond markets.

12 March 2025

Over the past two decades, Asia’s international bond markets have seen remarkable growth, with issuance volumes rebounding strongly in 2024. Despite this momentum, Asia’s share of global issuance remains modest, though its role in shaping global capital flows is expanding.

Our latest report explores:

• Latest Issuance Trends: A 20% year-over-year rebound in Asian international bond issuance volume, reaching $460 billion in 2024.
• Jurisdictional Highlights: India, China, and ASEAN markets are driving increases in issuance, with growth of the Asian international bond markets partly driven by new issuers.
• Sustainable Bonds: An important segment of Asian international bond markets, with Asia’s share higher than global averages.

Download the report now for an in-depth look into the trends shaping Asia’s bond markets in 2025:

English version | Chinese version

6 March 2025

The ERCC Guide is a flagship document for ICMA and provides detailed guidance, best practice recommendations, and clarifications that are intended to support the well-organised trading and settlement of repos. Comprising 170 pages, the ERCC Guide is among the most substantial and well-established industry self-regulatory guidance across the entire financial market.

By setting standards and best practices, the Guide helps to avoid uncertainty and disagreements among market participants, helping to foster a more efficient and orderly repo market in Europe and beyond.

This latest document reflects in-depth discussions and consultations with ERCC members which led to updates in several key areas of best practice including:

• Resilience and recovery of trading and post-trading infrastructure
• The impact of CSD and SSS outages
• Template agreement for bilateral pair-offs
• Sanctions 
• Cancellation of trades made in error on automatic trading systems
• Making prices on automatic trading systems
• Off-market prices on automated (RFQ) trading systems
• Repo portfolio transfers between LDI pension fund managers
• Buy-outs of LDI repo portfolios

For easier comparison, the Guide itself was published along with a blackline version which highlights all the latest changes compared to the previous version of the document published in November 2023.

The ERCC Guide to Best Practice in the European Repo Market is authored by Richard Comotto and was first published in 2014. Since then it has been regularly reviewed and updated to make sure that the document continues to accurately reflect current market practice. The review process is driven by a dedicated working group, the ERCC’s Best Practice Working Group, with input from both the ERCC Committee and the ERCC Operations Group. Members who are interested to get involved in the best practice discussions or the ERCC more broadly, please reach out to ercc@icmagroup.org. 

 Download the ERCC Guide to Best Practice in the European Repo Market.

ICMA urges policymakers to recognise the diversity of the non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI) sector rather than applying broad banking-style regulations. The FSB should clearly define which firms fall under its proposals and exclude those that do not use leverage, such as MMFs and non-leveraged pension or investment funds.

Regulatory efforts should focus on markets and institutions most critical to financial stability, rather than imposing broad measures. Leverage should be assessed alongside other systemic risk factors, particularly given existing leverage caps and reporting obligations in the investment fund space.

Instead of introducing new activity-based measures (Recommendation 5), which fail to address the identified risks and could disrupt market stability, regulators should prioritise aligning global standards and reporting requirements. The proposed measures risk increasing costs, creating market frictions, and exacerbating procyclicality, particularly in the repo market.

Entity-based measures would also be ineffective, adding unnecessary regulatory burdens without addressing real risks. The LDI fund example shows that systemic issues, not entity-level leverage, were the key concern. Regulation should instead target specific products where risks emerge, identified through cross-border systemic risk assessments.

Authorities should enhance system-wide monitoring and better utilize existing reporting data, removing barriers to data sharing across jurisdictions.

Read the full response here.

Read ICMA’s previous response to the European Commission on macroprudential policies for NBFIs here.

• Anrong Credit Rating Co., Ltd., China
• Bank Hapoalim B.M., Israel
• SBI Shinsei International Limited, United Kingdom
• SMBC Bank EU AG, Germany

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

The response is provided by ICMA’s Pre-Hedging Working Group, which comprises sell-side, buy-side and market infrastructure provider members of ICMA’s Secondary Market Practices Committee (SMPC), and solely in the context of international, secondary bond markets.

Key points:

• ICMA members are of the view that existing code and guidance, such as the FX Global Code (2021, last updated 2024), and specifically the FMSB Standard for the execution of Large Trades in FICC markets (“FMSB Standard”, 2021) and FMSB Pre-hedging: case studies Spotlight Review (“FMSB Spotlight Review”, 2024) are sufficient for the markets they cover and that any further recommendations from IOSCO should be aligned with those existing codes and practices. Furthermore, ICMA members believe that no further prescriptive rules should be introduced as a result of any future IOSCO recommendations.
• Given the diverse nature of market dynamics and liquidity, asset classes, execution methods and investor sophistication around the globe, we believe IOSCO should provide high-level principles only and allow firms to tailor their internal procedures accordingly.
• Principle based recommendations will also make it easier to implement/consider across asset classes (e.g. equity v OTC markets) which are structurally different markets.
• Firms and other market participants should ensure that existing codes and guidance are applied consistently. In this context, and as highlighted throughout our response to this consultation, ICMA members would like to refer specifically to the principles and examples under the FMSB Standard and FMSB Spotlight Review. Further and more specific thoughts are provided in our response to the Consultation report
• With respect to the differentiation between execution channels, ICMA members would like to highlight that there should not be any bifurcation or unlevel treatment between OTC and electronic trading, referring also to the long-established principle of technology neutrality in regulatory action according to which, different media and channels should be treated equivalently.

Further thoughts and detailed comments on the consultation questions can be found in ICMA’s response.

Read the full press release on the ECB’s website.

ICMA and its DLT Bonds Working Group have consistently highlighted the critical importance of a wholesale CBDC (or DLT-based real central bank money settlement solution) and have long advocated for it, as a way of realising the benefits and fostering the market development of DLT-based securities.

We believe the benefits include:

• Next level automation through programmability, reducing costs and fragmentation.
• More efficient securities settlement and post-trade processing, reducing settlement fails and risk.
• Increasing the attractiveness of capital markets and facilitating the funding for the real economy.
• Future proofing and maintaining control of the currency in light of the proliferation of ‘stablecoins’.

We are pleased to see that the ECB’s announcement addresses our members’ key considerations. Collaboration with the industry, notably on harmonisation and standardisation, remains of paramount importance to avoid market fragmentation, and we look forward to engaging further with the Eurosystem and all relevant stakeholders.

Further information on ICMA’s DLT Bonds Working Group as well as guidance on tokenisation and DLT-based debt securities can be found here.

These 15 individuals were selected from a record number of applicants, based on their professional experience and aspirations, academic attainments and a personal statement reflecting their desire to embark on their chosen course of study. The students will have the opportunity to acquire an ICMA Diploma in either debt capital markets, securities & derivatives or financial market operations, starting next month.

The ICMA scholarship programme has now been running for four years and represents an important element of ICMA's mission to raise standards and support inclusion in global capital markets.

We’d like to thank everyone that took the time and effort to apply for this programme and convey our warmest congratulations to the successful recipients

Aynalem Kasa Alemu Ethiopia	Hailegebrel Girma Beyene Ethiopia	Mark Jason V. Celiz Philippines	Providence Chikarakara Zimbabwe	Camila Flores Ecuador
Rahimat Ibrahim Nigeria	Khamidulla Kholikov Uzbekistan	Paballo Phillicious Ledwaba South Africa	Kelvin Mbugua Nyambura Kenya	Christopher Y Ngonyani Tanzania
Tien Manh Pham Vietnam	Evangelyn Nana Ama Duaba Quarm Ghana	Vikram Jeet Singh India	Aminat Oluwabukola Tijani Nigeria	Nyamdulam Yondon Mongolia

View the list of recipients of the 2024 scholarship programme.

View the list of recipients of the 2023 scholarship programme.

View the list of recipients of the 2022 scholarship programme.

These 15 individuals were selected from a record number of applicants, based on their professional experience and aspirations, academic attainments and a personal statement reflecting their desire to embark on their chosen course of study. The students will have the opportunity to acquire an ICMA Diploma in either debt capital markets, securities & derivatives, financial market operations or sustainable finance, starting next month.

The ICMA scholarship programme has now been running for five years and represents an important element of ICMA's mission to raise standards and support inclusion in global capital markets.

We’d like to thank everyone that took the time and effort to apply for this programme and convey our warmest congratulations to the successful recipients

Akua Serwaa Agyapong Ghana	Chidozie Chikwe Nigeria	Ma Eunice Delos Santos Philippines	Zelalem Adugna Dessie Ethiopia	Vanessa Hinostroza Martinez Peru
Muhammad Hammad Khan Pakistan	Zenadene Lazarus South Africa	Rafael Lopez Colombia	Delick Manishimwe Uganda	Austine Muya Wandeka Kenya
Alphaus Nkandu Zambia	Nasreen Osman South Africa	Liza Tesfay Ethiopia	Amanda Umobi Nigeria	Pramila Yadav India

View the list of recipients of the 2025 scholarship programme.

View the list of recipients of the 2024 scholarship programme.

View the list of recipients of the 2023 scholarship programme.

View the list of recipients of the 2022 scholarship programme.

ICMA ERCC Committee 2025 – 2026

Charlie Badran
AXA Investment Managers GS Ltd

Thomas Hansen
Banco Santander S.A.

Michel Semaan
Banque Centrale de Compensation (LCH SA)

Nick Daunt
Barclays Capital Securities Limited

Emma Cooper
BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited

Eugene McGrory
BNP Paribas

James Cherry
Clearstream Banking, S.A.

Andreas Biewald
Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft

Amanda Butavand
Credit Agricole CIB

Frank Gast
Eurex Repo GmbH

Marije Verhelst
Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V.

Ned Taylor
HSBC Bank plc

Philip Boyce
J.P. Morgan Securities plc

Hamish Thornton
Lloyds Banking Corporate Markets

Daniel Bremer
Merrill Lynch International

Anja Kleefsman
PGGM Vermogensbeheer B.V.

Sylvain Bojic
Société Générale S.A.

Nicola Danese
Tradeweb Europe Limited

Gareth Allen
UBS AG

Arne Theia
UniCredit Bank AG

5 February 2025 

With an omnibus legislative proposal expected by February 2025, the paper highlights the need for a simplified, proportionate and internationally operable regulatory framework.

Key recommendations include fundamentally addressing the usability challenges of the EU Taxonomy and its implementation, refocusing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) data requirements, and streamlining reporting under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) while maintaining its flexible definition to sustainable investments.

We also underline the importance of the logical sequencing of reforms,  as well as the related need for interim requirements or suspended enforcement notably for reporting.

These recommendations reflect extensive engagement with policymakers and industry stakeholders, as well as input from ICMA committees and members, ensuring a balanced, informed, and practical approach that maintains policy and regulatory integrity while reducing excessive complexity.

The full paper is available here.

To formulate its response, ICMA convened a dedicated Taskforce of member firms from its European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC) that are active in the sterling repo market and regular users of the Sterling Monetary Framework (“SMF participants”).

The response highlights a number of key themes and recommendations that can be considered as broadly consensus views across SMF participants intended to support a successful transition to the new framework. Chief among these is that the SMF operations should be settled on a delivery-versus-payment (DVP) basis, along the lines of a triparty model. Participants highlight the challenges related to the existing free-of-payment (FOP) model, not least the drain on intraday liquidity arising from the requirement to pre-position collateral, and which could ultimately make it difficult to use the SMF as a business-as-usual liquidity management tool. Other recommendations include expediting the process for verifying and requesting collateral eligibility, greater flexibility in tenors for the Indexed Long-term Repo (ILTR), enhanced operational efficiencies related to partialing, substitution, and margining, as well as improvements to the Short Term Repo (STR) tender process.

• ICMA members highlight the importance of distinguishing between AI techniques that have existed within firms for a long time and are being applied to new processes, and new AI techniques that are still largely in the proof-of-concept stage, such as Gen AI.
• ICMA members reinforce the importance of having internal risk frameworks and human oversight in place to manage the risks associated with AI. Included in these frameworks are a series of explainability requirements to enable testing, validation, and model development, whilst also encouraging a general duty of understanding and responsibility for AI use across the firm.
• Currently, organisations in financial services are subject to a number of technology agnostic frameworks that apply safeguards to technology use generally, including AI, such as AIFMD, UCITS, MIFID II, MIFIR, DORA, the PRA Rulebook, and SM&CR. Much of the industry’s use of AI has successfully operated under these regulatory frameworks to date.
• Remaining competitive on a global scale and being able to capitalise on innovation opportunities in the industry is an important factor for the well-functioning of international debt securities markets.
• Specific examples of how the regulatory regime is applied to use cases in financial services could benefit firms looking to incorporate AI safely. It may also help to clarify whether firms that operate in the financial markets on a quasi-level, are included under the scope of financial services regulation. One area of concern is that these types of firms may pose a risk to the stability of the financial services industry if they believe to fall
  outside of the scope of regulation, and therefore do not apply the same level of safeguards to their activities as traditional institutions.

View the response

29 January 2024

Calendar year-end has become a major focal point for repo markets, associated with thin liquidity and heightened rate volatility, and working with its European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC), ICMA has conducted its assessment of market performance over this period since 2016. The legacy of this particularly stressed turn is still felt today in terms of how and when market participants manage their anticipated year-end funding needs.

The report looks not only at the Euro government repo market, but also those for GBP, USD, and JPY.

The latest report describes how 2024 year-end was, in many respects, different to previous year-ends. As usual, focus on the so-called “turn” began in October, with term and forward trades beginning to price in liquidity premium for December 31 to January 2 (a two-day turn). Unlike recent years, particularly in the case of EUR, the markets began pricing repo rates at a significant premium to benchmark rates, rather than the usual deep discount. This was observed over the September quarter-end, when repo rates spiked higher, and was largely seen as a return to normalisation, with reduced excess liquidity and increased bond issuance tilting the demand-supply dynamic. At the same time, there was growing concern about the increased pressure on the largest G-SIB banks as a result of the soaring stock market, particularly following the November US election result, which was increasing the demand for prime brokerage balance sheet to fund swelling hedge fund longs, and likely to be at the expense of repo funding capacity for fixed income.

However, as we moved into December the pressure began to abate, and rates began to move closer to normal levels. This was partly as many firms had already locked in much of their year-end funding, but also as it became clearer that there was ample liquidity in the market. A number of other factors helped, including a change in market position in government bond markets, as well as the sell-off in the equity markets following the December FOMC.

While much of the discourse over recent years has been on demand-supply imbalances in the repo market at year-end, with the banking system flooded with excess reserves and the market facing collateral scarcity, as ICMA’s annual analysis has shown, the main driver of the year-end effect is in fact balance sheet scarcity; which is much more difficult to predict.

See also:

• ESMA press release: New governance structure for transition to T+1 settlement cycle kicks off
•  More information on the EU T+1 Industry Committee

The work of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) was referenced under capital markets of the EFD's policy outcomes, specifically:

• Both sides welcome exchanges between the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and support Chinese issuers to issue and list RMB-denominated debt in the UK.
• Both sides welcome further collaboration between the People’s Bank of China and ICMA to assist in China’s adoption of ICMA’s Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA), the predominant master agreement for cross-border repurchase agreement transactions. Both sides note qualified UK financial institutions can participate in bond repo via the Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI) and China Interbank Bond Market (CIBM) Direct programme.
• China welcomes more qualified UK institutional investors to actively participate in trading and related business in China’s interbank market. China welcomes qualified UK entities to issue bonds in China’s Interbank Bond Market (CIBM). Both sides also welcome the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) and ICMA to further deepen cooperation on green bonds, panda bonds, primary bond market practices, repo, and collateral management under the framework of their MoU.
• Both sides recognise the importance of people-to-people links in enhancing understanding of each other’s financial markets, stimulating dynamism, and driving innovation. Building on the success of a generation of Chinese financial leaders who have studied in the UK and those who continue to study in the UK on Chevening scholarships, both sides agree to establish a new UK-China Chevening Financial Fellowship programme, designed to facilitate senior executive learning and experience sharing for financial sector leaders. Both sides welcome the collaboration on capital markets training and capacity-building for Corporate Finance Consultants (CFC) provided by ICMA.

More information on the 2025 UK - China EFD is available on https://lnkd.in/eaNcnQPw

View the Outcomes Document

View the response

• AIB Group (UK) p.l.c., United Kingdom
• DWS Group GmbH & Co KGaA, Germany
• Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation, Taiwan

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

11 December 2024

A copy of the reference guide can be found here.

The guide, produced by ICMA’s DLT Bonds Working Group, and authored by Gabriel Callsen, Senior Director for FinTech and Digitalisation at ICMA, highlights considerations for the end-to-end lifecycle of DLT-based debt securities. It is designed for market practitioners, including both traditional DCM and digital asset functions, as well as a broader audience of market stakeholders. It comprises over 50 practical questions and serves as a reference point across the lifecycle of a DLT-based debt security.

The guidance is the result of collaboration within the ICMA DLT Bonds Working group. The group provides a forum for discussion on how to support liquidity in DLT-based bonds, focusing on interoperability aspects, cash on ledger, and legal and regulatory considerations, with a view to providing recommendations or market guidance. The group also seeks to raise awareness and ‘demystify’ blockchain bonds through FAQs, workshops, webinars and further educational materials. The stakeholders involved also respond to relevant consultations and collaborate with regulatory authorities.

Announcing the launch of the DLT Bonds Reference Guide, Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA said, “The DLT Bonds Reference Guide is a collaborative effort between stakeholders across the value chain of international bond markets and encompasses a set of practical considerations for the issuance, trading, settlement and distribution of tokenised debt securities."

"In light of the dynamic nature of this market segment, we believe the Reference Guide will provide greater clarity to a broad range of market practitioners and firms’ internal functions, helping them to navigate the opportunities and risks in global markets."

Christoph Hock, Head of Tokenisation and Digital Assets at Union Investment, member of the ICMA board and chair of ICMA’s DLT Bonds Working Group added, “The token economy, and DLT-based bonds in particular, have become increasingly more relevant in recent months. Where currently we see a high degree of fragmentation across the value chain, we look forward to greater collaboration and standardisation, which will play a key role in further building the token universe. With its DLT Bonds Reference Guide, ICMA and all involved parties have made a great step in this direction.”

• A corporate edition (this report)
• A sovereign edition (released 5 November)

One of the core objectives of MiFID II/MiFIR was to provide greater public transparency of secondary trading activity in the EU and UK markets. As solutions have evolved to consolidate the disperse sources of public data, ICMA has sought to leverage the capabilities of such initiatives to provide a detailed and holistic view of bond market activity in the EU and UK.

It is estimated that the report captures more than 80% of all secondary bond market transactions reported in the EU and UK and is therefore relatively representative of the aggregated bond market data as reported under the MiFID II/MiFIR obligation.

This report, which follows the report published for H2 2023, provides 30 months of bond market data, covering the period January 2022 through to June 2024. ICMA believes that this latest data set provides a more accurate representation than the previous report.

ICMA commits to updating this report on a semi-annual basis in order to be able to track long-term trends in secondary bond market structure and activity. ICMA also expects that in time both the depth and quality of the underlying data will improve, particularly as reports such as this seek to present a definitive picture of the European bond markets.

View the letter.

The objective of the consultation was to seek a view on the adequacy of the macroprudential framework for NBFI; to identify the vulnerabilities and risks of NBFIs; and map the existing macroprudential framework. An additional aim was to gather feedback on the current challenges to macroprudential supervision to find areas for further improvement.

In conclusion, we believe a uniform, one-size fits all macroprudential framework is unsuitable for the diverse NBFI ecosystem. The focus should be on enhancing regulatory cooperation, data sharing, and targeted interventions to support NBFIs’ liquidity and funding roles while addressing systemic risks without stifling economic growth. Such an approach will ensure the EU remains competitive and robust in the evolving financial landscape.

ICMA is grateful for the input from stakeholders, and we present a summary of our key findings below.

To read the full consultation click here.

Key vulnerabilities and risks stemming from NBFI

• Diverse Landscape: The NBFI ecosystem's heterogeneity precludes a one-size-fits-all macroprudential framework akin to that of banks.
• Systemic Liquidity Risks: leveraging existing surveillance tools should facilitate the visibility of less known and less monitored NBFI entities and activities.
• Central Clearing Concerns: Current margin requirements (cash-only collateral) exacerbate procyclicality during stress periods. Expanding eligible collateral to include high-quality securities (e.g., MMFs and government bonds) could mitigate these effects.
• Role in Bond Markets and Private Lending: Hedge funds and private credit providers play vital roles in bond market liquidity and SME-focused funding.

Overview of existing macroprudential tools and supervisory architecture in EU legislation

• Robust Regulation: EU regulations governing asset managers, investment funds, and money market funds (MMFs) are stringent and have been recently enhanced at both EU and global levels.
• Corporate Paper (CP) Markets: Greater standardization and transparency could deepen market participation but must avoid unintended consequences, such as misinterpretations of issuer strategies or financial health.

Excessive leverage

• Excessive Leverage: Existing leverage caps within the highly regulated NBFI sectors are sufficient. System-wide cross border systemic counterparty risk monitoring would enhance the surveillance of NBFIs that not currently in scope of EU regulation.
• Bank-NBFI Links: Focus should remain on improved data sharing to monitor and mitigate interconnected risks effectively.

Monitoring interconnectedness

• Enhanced Coordination: Instead of new mechanisms, leveraging existing coordination tools and improving data sharing between NCAs, ESAs, and central banks is key. A single regulatory reporting hub would enhance transparency and policy response capabilities.
• Consistent Supervision: Supervision should be consistent across all management companies, irrespective of size, as size alone is not a suitable risk metric.

Supervisory coordination and consistency at EU level

• Data Utilization: Leverage existing data (e.g., EMIR reporting) for systemic risk monitoring, limiting additional reporting burdens on asset managers, investment funds and banks.
• Facilitate Liquidity Provider Roles: Policies must support NBFIs’ critical roles as liquidity providers, avoiding unnecessary regulatory burdens.
• Global Coordination: Recognize the global nature of financial markets and collaborate internationally to address risks posed by non-EU domiciled entities.

12 November 2024

The survey measured and analysed the value of outstanding repo plus reverse repo on the books of 61 participants at close of business on 12 June 2024. Given that the ICMA surveys a sample of the European repo market, the headline number must be taken as the minimum size of the European market.

Download the 47th ICMA ERCC European Repo Market Survey

The size of the survey grew 7.1% year-on-year to a record EUR 11,114 billion. Growth was faster than in the previous survey but the trend is still one of deceleration.

This is more apparent after adjusting for changes in the composition of the survey sample, which lowered growth rates to +1.7% since December and +4.9% year-on-year.

Summary of key findings:

• In the latest survey, the net reverse repo position of the survey sample remained large but continued to recede, possibly in response to the increased supply of securities resulting from QT and heavy issuance.
• The easier supply of cash, as central banks unwound their asset purchases and closed other facilities, was also reflected in the recovery of cash-driven repo, including tri-party repo.
• The reduced need to borrow specific securities may also account for further contraction in the share of automatic trading systems (ATS). A smaller share for trading on ATS was reflected in a smaller share for CCP-clearing (the two being intimately linked).
• In contrast, automated trading platforms supporting dealer-to-customer repo continued to show strong growth, largely on the back of hedge fund business.
• The share of the US dollar continued to grow, reflecting swings in market expectations about interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve but also high yields and record issuance of Treasuries.
• The share of US Treasuries also continued to grow. On the other hand, French and German government securities lost ground in response to heavy issuance and political uncertainty. In tri-party repo, as the impact of TLTRO financing waned, reducing the share of covered bonds but reviving the allocation of government bonds. Securities issued by EU institutions accounted for almost 7% of tri-party repo. Haircuts were relaxed across the board, with the exception of MBS.
• The growth in the share of floating-rate repo continued in the first-half of 2024, notwithstanding a change in direction of monetary policy by many central banks.
• Maturity transformation by the survey sample intensified in the first-half of 2024. A surge in the share of gross positions with one day remaining to maturity shifted the entire net repo position of the survey sample into the one-day residual maturity band.
• Repos that were sponsored, otherwise guaranteed or indemnified by the survey sample accounted for the equivalent of 4.7% of the survey but this is undoubtedly an underestimate.

Ralph takes up the role of chair from Joachim Heppe, who has recently retired from Commerzbank AG. Jo, formerly Managing Director of Bond Origination – Dutch & Nordic Banks, was chair of the region from 2012.

Bryan Pascoe, ICMA Chief Executive, said "We look forward to working closely with Ralph, benefitting from his extensive experience in the markets, to ensure we continue to serve our German membership effectively. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Jo for his leadership and contribution over the years, and for cultivating such a close-knit community among the membership in Germany. I am pleased that Jo will remain an advisor to ICMA until our 2025 AGM and Conference in Frankfurt.”

Members of the ICMA German regional committee include:

Petra Wehlert (Vice chair)
KfW

Andreas Biewald
Commerzbank AG

Cristina Freudenberger
White & Case LLP
(ICMA Women’s Network Steering Committee Representative)

Frank Gast
Eurex Repo GmbH

Christian Georg-Müller
DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank
(ICMA Future Leaders representative)

Mirko Gerhold
Commerzbank AG

Detlef Giebe
DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank

Florian Hessel
Morgan Stanley Europe SE

Julian Kleiner
UniCredit Bank AG

Maximilian Klinkenbusch
Commerzbank AG
(ICMA Future Leaders Committee representative)

Hendrik Kühne
Hessische Landesbank

Samira Lampe
Crédit Agricole CIB (Frankfurt)
(ICMA Future Leaders Committee representative)

Achim Linsenmaier
Deutsche Bank AG

Christian Lunz
Union Investment Privatfonds GmbH

Thorben Lüthge
DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

Oliver Pilz
Hessische Landesbank
(ICMA Future Leaders Committee representative)

Patrick Seifert
Landesbank Baden-Württemberg

Vanessa Wiese
KfW
(ICMA Women’s Network Steering Committee Representative)

Siyar Yikmis
DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank
(ICMA Future Leaders representative)

Asia Pacific: Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam 

Latin America: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay

The ICMA Scholarship Programme is delivered in partnership with the ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading and provides an opportunity to study for one of the ICMA Diplomas, namely:

• ICMA Diploma in Debt Capital Markets
• ICMA Diploma Securities & Derivatives
• ICMA Diploma in Financial Market Operations

Since launching the programme in 2021, over 100 individuals from over 20 countries have been awarded the scholarship.

All scholarship courses are studied online over 12 months in a mix of self-study and virtual classroom formats, some of which include online exams. The ICMA Scholarship Programme will fully cover the course and examination fees for the relevant Diploma.

A good level of education (but not necessarily a university degree), interest in financial markets and proficiency in English are necessary application criteria. Candidates may be in full-time education, working in finance already or looking to move into it.

Click here for more information.

5 November 2024 ICMA’s Secondary Market Practices Committee (SMPC) has published its semi-annual report that provides detailed data on EU and UK sovereign bond market trading activity.

Previous versions of this report included both sovereign and corporate analysis. Following readers’ input and feedback, the report will now be published in two different editions:

• A sovereign edition (this report)
  
  
• A corporate edition (to follow)

One of the core objectives of MiFID II/MiFIR was to provide greater public transparency of secondary trading activity in the EU and UK markets. As solutions have evolved to consolidate the disperse sources of public data, ICMA has sought to leverage the capabilities of such initiatives to provide a detailed and holistic view of bond market activity in the EU and UK.

It is estimated that the report captures more than 80% of all secondary bond market transactions reported in the EU and UK and is therefore relatively representative of the aggregated bond market data as reported under the MiFID II/MiFIR obligation.

This report, which follows the report published for H2 2023, provides 30 months of bond market data, covering the period January 2022 through to June 2024. ICMA believes that this latest data set provides a more accurate representation than the previous report.

ICMA commits to updating this report on a semi-annual basis in order to be able to track long-term trends in secondary bond market structure and activity. ICMA also expects that in time both the depth and quality of the underlying data will improve, particularly as reports such as this seek to present a definitive picture of the European bond markets.

4 November 2024

The November 2024 edition includes three new questions in relation with the Sustainability-Linked Bonds. More particularly, how to treat SLBs in the context of sustainable finance disclosure and labelling regimes (4.1.6) and whether an SLB should match updated corporate-level sustainability strategy targets and disclosures (4.1.7). It also provides guidance on KPIs selection to be able to claim SLBP alignment (4.2.8).

The publication is intended to be widely circulated and used by the Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-linked (GSSS) bond market in order to support market development and market integrity.

Download the Guidance Handbook

Click here to read the Press Release from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

This is the seventh in a series of reports on domestic repo markets that ICMA is publishing as part of its continued commitment to promoting the development of repo markets around the world. Guides to domestic repo markets in China, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam, were published in 2022 and 2023 (ICMA member login required).

The Australian repo guide is sponsored by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (open access).

ICMA has played a significant role in promoting the international repo market since the 1990s. This includes the development of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA), which has become the principal master agreement for cross-border repos globally, as well as for many domestic repo markets, supported by annually updated legal opinions in over 70 jurisdictions (view a full list of jurisdictions covered by the 2024 legal opinions update).
 

For more information contact: apac@icmagroup.org

• Chongwa (Macao) Financial Asset Exchange Co., Ltd., China
• Dagong Global Hong Kong Limited, Hong Kong
• DenizBank A.Ş., Republic of Türkiye
• National Bank Financial Inc., Canada
• Rothesay Life Plc, United Kingdom
• Singapore Sustainable Finance Association (SSFA), Singapore

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

The Task Force is generally supportive of the EU moving to T+1, but also acutely aware of the complexity of the exercise in the EU, which will require a significant effort from all sides, and will have to be reflected in the relevant timelines of the project. The report highlights that a successful transition requires further industry focus on improving the efficiency of existing post-trade processes and continued work to remove remaining post-trade barriers. While further in-depth impact analysis is required, the report suggests that once a firm decision has been communicated, a transition period of between 24 and 36 months will be necessary, reflecting the complexity of the capital markets landscape in Europe.

As a next step, the Task Force recommends that EU public authorities provide a mandate for a broad industry stakeholder group to take forward the next phase of work, which should be closely coordinated with key regional partners including the UK and Switzerland.

The report has already been shared with ESMA as input to their own report on T+1 and related recommendations, which is expected by mid-January and will be the basis for a political decision on T+1 in the EU. ICMA has been closely involved in the discussions around the shortening of the settlement cycle, both in the EU and the UK and will continue to actively contribute to the discussion.

Read the report here

The associated circular to members is available here for ICMA members and ICMA Primary Market Handbook subscribers only (login details required).

These measures are critical to ensuring the success of the agreement reached at Level 1 of the revised AIFMD and UCITS Directives which entered into force on 15 April 2024.

Most importantly, it is critical that these measures support and respect the agreement that was reached at level 1 to ensure that fund managers retain the necessary flexibility to act as fiduciaries, in the best interest of investors, at all times.

Read the full consultation response here

With the market for sustainable CP potentially reaching EUR 300 billion, this paper provides crucial insights into its development and the best practices shaping its future.

As issuers continue to seek innovative and flexible financing options to support their sustainability goals, the paper outlines how sustainable CP can serve as an important short-term funding mechanism in support of long-term environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives.

The report also addresses some of the key challenges in this evolving market, including the contribution of short-term CP to long-term sustainability goals and reporting transparency, as well as the integration of sustainable CP into issuers' broader sustainable financing frameworks.

Key Highlights:

• Sustainable CP has a growing role in issuers' overall sustainability strategies, supplementing sustainable bonds, which currently dominate the market.
• Use of Proceeds CP and Sustainability-Linked CP are the two emerging categories in this space, reflecting the increasing demand for financial products that cater to both immediate financing needs and ESG commitments.
• Recommendations from ICMA and its Commercial Paper Taskforce (“the Taskforce”) provide issuers with initial and preliminary best practices for the structuring and reporting of Use of Proceeds CP issuance, while making initial observations pending further development of the Sustainability-Linked CP market.

“The sustainable CP market presents a flexible, short-term financing option that can complement issuers’ long-term sustainability strategies,” said Nicholas Pfaff, Deputy CEO and Head of Sustainable Finance at ICMA. “This paper outlines initial and preliminary best practices for issuers seeking to expand their sustainability toolkit to Use of Proceeds CP, while acknowledging that the Sustainability-Linked CP market may evolve further.”

Katie Kelly, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, ICMA added, “The Taskforce’s insights into market trends and standards highlight the potential for sustainable CP to play a much larger role in the sustainable finance ecosystem. As the market develops, ICMA will remain at the forefront of facilitating best practices and promoting transparency.”

Download the full paper here.

A launch event for the Code, open to all market stakeholders, will be held on 29 November in Hong Kong. More details will be announced soon.

The Associations fully support ESMA’s aim of providing for an adequate level of transparency. This will be beneficial to investors, liquidity providers, other intermediaries, as well issuers, across the entire range of different and diverse bond classes. Furthermore, this will play an important role in underpinning the development, unification and internationalisation of the EU’s capital market, enhancing its profile as a globally competitive and attractive centre for both issuance and investment. Critical to the attainment of this goal is the successful delivery of ESMA’s parallel aim of ensuring that liquidity providers are not exposed to undue risk.

However, accurately determining which bonds and transactions will benefit from increased transparency (the large majority), and those for which a level of information deferral is necessary, will be critical to the success of the EU’s transparency regime.

In assessing ESMA’s proposal, and responding to the consultation, three organisations, including ICMA, independently, took very similar approaches in using historical trading data to estimate the time required by liquidity providers to trade out of risk positions, for a given size, whether in terms of classes or subclasses of bonds, or at the individual security level. The importance of this analysis was also recognised by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).  While the methodologies differ slightly, the four approaches use the historical average daily traded volumes of different bonds and bond types as the basis for their analysis. All reach similar conclusions in estimating the average, and longest, times required to trade out of certain bonds or bond types, for a given size.

The Associations strongly recommend that ESMA use a similar approach in assessing the appropriate groupings, liquidity determinants, deferrals, and related thresholds, to shape its design and calibration of the revised transparency regime. Improving bond market transparency is an underpinning objective of developing and deepening a more cohesive and globally competitive EU capital market and the introduction of a consolidated tape presents an opportunity to enhance market quality and resilience. Key to the success of the tape and the realisation of these goals will be the design and calibration of the related deferral framework. It is imperative that this reflects the nature, structure, and liquidity of Europe’s bond markets. A more data-driven approach will better support the successful attainment of ESMA’s dual aims of providing for an adequate level of transparency and ensuring that liquidity providers are not exposed to undue risk. It will also result in a deferral regime that is more appropriately calibrated to the market it is intended to serve.

Read the Joint association statement here.

Social Bonds are bond instruments aligned with the four core principles of the SBP where the proceeds are exclusively applied to finance or re-finance eligible social projects. These are projects with the objective to address or mitigate specific social issues and/or seek to achieve positive social outcomes especially, but not exclusively for a target population(s). Transparency and reporting are critical to developing a robust Social Bond market and to maintaining the integrity of the market.

Compared to the past versions, the 2024 edition of the Harmonised Framework for Impact Reporting for Social Bonds fully duplicates the Core Principles and Recommendations for Reporting that are described in the Handbook Harmonised Framework for Impact Reporting for Green Bonds, enabling issuers to provide the market with standardised practices.

The handbook also includes an illustrative list of quantitative social indicators that may be considered.

Download Handbook - Harmonised Framework for Impact Reporting for Social Bonds

A template in the form of an excel file can also be downloaded here.

ICMA promotes well-functioning cross-border capital markets, which are essential to fund sustainable economic growth. It is a not-for-profit membership association with offices in Zurich, London, Paris, Brussels, and Hong Kong, serving around 620 members in nearly 70 jurisdictions globally. Its members include private and public sector issuers, banks and securities dealers, asset and fund managers, insurance companies, law firms, capital market infrastructure providers and central banks. ICMA provides industry-driven standards and recommendations, prioritising three core fixed income market areas: primary, secondary and repo and collateral, with cross-cutting themes of sustainable finance and fintech and digitalisation. ICMA works with regulatory and governmental authorities, helping to ensure that financial regulation supports stable and efficient capital markets. ICMA’s response is based on the feedback from a subset of its Artificial Intelligence in Capital Markets (AICM) working group, including investors, banks, market infrastructures, law firms and issuers across the international debt capital markets. Due to the composition of the Artificial Intelligence in Capital Markets working group, our response to the consultation excludes part 2 on “Questions related to specific use cases in financial services”. However, for insight into specific use-cases of AI in the debt capital markets industry across the different market sectors, ICMA has been tracking new FinTech applications in bond markets on our website.

A key objective of the Artificial Intelligence in Capital Markets working group is to provide a forum for discussion and education on AI in the industry, including the promotion of best practices that foster effective bond markets globally. The feedback in this consultation is based on the initial findings of participants, who are at various stages of their AI trajectory.

We have, in addition, encouraged all our members across all market sectors, who are part of this extensive group of individuals to complete the survey bilaterally on behalf of their own organisation. We hope this will extend the depth of response from the capital market industry.

Executive Summary

(I) ICMA members encourage innovation across the debt capital markets industry and support fair and transparent applications of AI.

(II) ICMA members emphasise the importance of human validation and an internal framework to manage the responsible use of AI in an organisation. Internal risk frameworks covering AI-related risk have been longstanding in financial organisations, as AI models, including machine learning algorithms, are not a nascent technology in this industry.

(III) They highlight the interconnectedness of AI technology with ESG and DLT related developments, and the potential risk of an unintended impact on innovation if supplementary regulation to the EU AI Act is introduced too early.

(IV) In addition, existing pieces of legislation such as UCITS, AIFMD, and MiFID II/MiFIR already capture safeguards for the responsible use of technology, including AI and related service providers. It is recommended that in the implementation of the EU AI Act, this is taken into account to ensure that it is appropriately interlinked into current regulation.

(V) In general, ICMA members see increased efficiency and automation, freeing capacity for more high value tasks, as a key positive of AI use.

Feedback on selected questions that pertain to a ‘whole industry sector’ can be found in our response, the other questions have been left blank.

Contact Emma Thomas, Associate, FinTech and Digitalisation (emma.thomas@icmagroup.org)

Download the note here.

ICMA’s response covers both the secondary market angle as well as relevant aspects from a primary market perspective, incorporating feedback from ICMA’s CSDR-SD working group, as well as input from ICMA’s Primary Market Practices Committee (PMPC). In general, ICMA is supportive of ESMA’s proposals in terms of the two exemptions and the applicable scenarios set out in the consultation paper. The response welcomes ESMA’s stated objective to keep exemptions from penalties relatively limited in line with the “immunisation principle”, ensuring that intermediaries in a fail chain are flat in terms of penalties due and received. In this respect, ICMA also highlights the important differences between penalties and mandatory buy-ins, which would require a distinct approach if they were ever to be implemented. From a primary market perspective, the response reiterates ICMA’s concerns with cash penalties in the primary market context suggesting a one-day grace period for all fails of transactions in a new bond due to settle on the issue date of that new bond.

30 August 2024

Some key points from the survey:

• A clear call for further dedicated guidance to cover all types of sustainability-related repo
• A confirmation that the majority of respondents active in this market primarily focus on repo transactions involving sustainable collateral and this category of sustainability-related repo remains their top priority
• A general agreement that Use of Proceeds (UoP) and Sustainability-Linked (SL) repo should be transacted under firms’ overarching sustainability frameworks or strategies
• A strong view that SL repos are more appropriate for maturities exceeding 12 months
• A consensus that to avoid double-counting from an accounting perspective, any green claims should remain with the repo seller, who retains the economic exposure to the assets

Guided by members of the Taskforce, ICMA will continue to closely monitor the market evolution and is looking to work on expanded guidance as a next step, which is a clear request emerging from the survey outcomes.

Key points:

As highlighted throughout our response to this consultation, ICMA is of the view that in the development of the framework for a Consolidated Tape for bonds, it is important that a distinction is being drawn between different asset classes.

• In particular, the bond market with its mechanics is very different from the equity market and this important distinction has to be reflected in the upcoming transparency regimes
• When defining the framework for a consolidated tape, there is a trade-off to be balanced between a) the cost of the consolidated tape and technical requirements and b) latency and data quality/accuracy. Such trade-offs have to be viewed differently with respect to the different asset classes.
• Whereas requirements for latency and real-time transmission may play a pivotal role in equity markets, the underlying nature of bond markets is very different, and the focus here should be on high data quality and accuracy.
• A strong governance model of the CTP is key and ICMA welcomes ESMA’s proposal to set up an administrative committee consisting of data providers and data users.
• Ultimately, the successful CTP “project” will depend on the right calibration of the framework, and a good collaboration of all involved stakeholders, with the aim to make high quality data accessible in a consolidated form, at an affordable cost, thereby allowing for a wide market participation across EU bond markets.

To read the full ICMA response, click here

ICMA has been a longstanding advocate of increased transparency in the European bond markets and the introduction of an EU consolidated tape for bonds. This has been with the broad support of ICMA members. ICMA therefore welcomes the objective of the MiFIR Review to support the establishment of a consolidated tape. Underpinning the success of the tape will be the design and calibration of the related deferral framework, aimed at optimizing the scope of real-time post-trade transparency while also providing protection to the most sensitive transactions and reflecting the nature, structure, and liquidity of Europe’s bond markets.

ICMA has undertaken extensive statistical analysis to ensure that its recommendations to ESMA are as data-driven and scientifically based as possible.

In constructing its recommendations, ICMA has also recognized the challenge of finding the right balance between achieving the optimal calibration for as many bond classes and sub-classes as possible and a desire to avoid excessive complexity.

Based on its analysis, ICMA proposes the following refinements to the deferral framework proposed by ESMA and based on the Revised MiFIR provisions:

(i) More granular groupings of bonds. ICMA proposes a distinction between the fixed coupon issuance of the very largest sovereign issuers and other sovereign bonds, as well as between investment grade and high yield credit.

(ii) A more scientific approach to establishing the appropriate Liquidity determinant. While ICMA has focused on outstanding issuance size as the key determination variable, it does not rule out the relevance of other key features (such as time to maturity or currency denomination).

(iii) A refinement to the proposed matrix, which allows for a more appropriate distinction between liquid and illiquid trade size thresholds.

(iv) A more data-driven approach to establishing the appropriate trade size thresholds for the relevant deferral categories, based on historical traded average daily trading volumes.

ICMA acknowledges the complexity of achieving optimal calibration across diverse bond classes but believes a data-driven approach is crucial. ICMA urges ESMA to consider these recommendations and collaborate with the industry to create a revised, well-calibrated framework that enhances market outcomes while mitigating risks.

To read the ICMA response on the Review of RTS 2 on transparency for bonds in full, click here.

To read the ICMA response on the draft RTS on reasonable commercial basis in full, click here.

• Emirates NBD Capital Limited, United Arab Emirates
• Freedom Finance Global plc, Kazakhstan
• Macquarie Group Limited, Australia
• Morgan, Lewis & Bockius UK LLP, United Kingdom

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

About the GMRA legal opinions

The opinions provide ICMA members a business-critical service with exclusive access to a substantive body of legal know-how regarding the enforceability of the GMRA and, in particular, the GMRA netting provisions in 71 jurisdictions globally. 
 
Regulators require repo transactions to be subject to agreements like the GMRA, supported by regularly updated legal opinions, in order to reduce regulatory capital requirements through close-out netting. ICMA legal opinions enable members to realise these significant regulatory capital benefits. 

Full list of jurisdictions covered by the legal opinions

25 July 2024 

The study surveyed more than 300 respondents within the global financial sector to assess the impact of existing reforms from a market stakeholder’s perspective and to understand market expectations of further reform initiatives in Korean capital markets.

The survey found that a staggering 91% of respondents had never engaged in KTB trading, indicating significant untapped market potential. While the majority of the respondents (88% of those who had never traded KTBs) do not have a clear plan to enter the market in the near term, the survey suggests that clearing with International Central Securities Depositories (ICSDs) and allowing KRW to be tradable offshore could be factors which drive them to consider entering the KTB markets. Only 3% of respondents said they currently traded KTBs, with only 6% having done so in the past. Consistent across all participant types, they traded KTBs mostly for portfolio diversification, however they experienced difficulties when trading KTBs offshore.

The survey noted that recent market reforms have sparked increased interest. Nearly half of the respondents expressed heightened interest due to latest operational reforms such as the “Simplified process for third-party onshore foreign exchange” (57%), the “Abolition of the Investment Registration Certificate[1” (47%) and “Omnibus account” (47%). Market participants also agreed that the likely impact of those measures will make KTB trading easier.

Furthermore, the anticipated use of the omnibus account for KTB trading has garnered significant attention, with 56% of respondents indicating plans to utilize this facility. This reflects a real demand for the omnibus account among market participants.

Looking ahead, there is cautious optimism for the KTB markets' growth, with the potential for increased trading volumes facilitated by clearing with ICSDs and a positive impact expected from the inclusion of KTBs in global major indices.

Survey respondents commented on strategic improvements that could bolster the appeal of the KTB markets, including technological advancements such as developing a robust e-trading platform for KTBs to improve transparency, efficiency, and accessibility for domestic and international investors, and leveraging AI, blockchain and Straight Through Processing (“STP”) measures that would reduce settlement costs and improve operational efficiency.

According to comments provided by respondents, ensuring high-quality collateral availability would boost market confidence, and implementing Delivery Versus Payment (DVP) clearing arrangements with custodians would streamline settlement processes and reduce settlement risks. Promoting the use of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA) for repo trades would standardize and streamline transactions.

Bloomberg and ICMA shared preliminary findings of the survey with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) of South Korea in May 2024 and sought its feedback to global investors’ comment. “Despite uncertainties in global markets, Korea remains one of the most dynamic economies in Asia and continues to be on a growth trajectory, presenting opportunities for global investors. Enhancing global investor access to the KTB markets is a key priority of the Korean government and Korean regulators. We have been launching a set of measures to simplify the trading of KTB and Korean Won, and will continue to optimize infrastructure to facilitate foreign participation in KTB markets,” Sang Hyun Kwak, MOEF’s Director of Government Bond Policy Division said. “We wish to thank Bloomberg and ICMA for conducting this survey of global investors, helping us better understand their current views and expectations.”

Mushtaq Kapasi, Chief Representative, Asia-Pacific, ICMA said: “We are deeply encouraged by Korea’s recent capital market reforms to enable the inclusion of Korean government bonds in international bond indices. Our KTB market survey not only demonstrates the significant untapped opportunities for both international investors and Korean issuers, but more importantly, the willingness of these investors to consider KTBs as part of their portfolios.”

Bing Li, Head of APAC, Bloomberg, said: “The KTB markets remain broadly untapped by global investors and contain substantial potential for growth. Key reforms such as offshore KRW trading and ICSD clearing are potential catalysts to attract new market participants. Technological enhancements and infrastructure improvements could also be real game-changers for increased participation in the markets.”

1] For more information, please refer to https://www.fsc.go.kr/eng/pr010101/80123  

To see the full report, please click here.

To formalise this collaboration, ICMA and NUS-AIDF have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop the AI Governance Executive Programme in Global Capital Markets.

This programme will aim to equip participants with advanced insights and practical competencies in AI risk management practices crucial for successful AI deployment, addressing the increasing need for proficient AI governance.

Georgina Jarratt, Managing Director and Head of FinTech & Digitalisation, ICMA said "Raising and maintaining high professional standards in financial markets through training and education has always been a core part of ICMA's mission. We are delighted to be collaborating with the National University of Singapore to deliver a programme on AI and risk management, a key topic that will shape the future of the capital markets.”

"We are thrilled to embark on this groundbreaking collaboration with ICMA," remarked Professor Huang Ke-Wei, the Executive Director of NUS-AIDF. "This collaboration combines NUS-AIDF's academic and fintech expertise with ICMA's industry knowledge and extensive network of AI practitioners. Together, we hope to propel the AI adoption in capital markets.”

Key publications and resources released today are:

• Guidance for green enabling projects: a great number of green enabling projects, vital to the value chain of green projects, are not themselves explicitly considered green but remain critical to these eligible green projects. This document seeks to provide guidance for such green enabling projects, encompassing both the induced and avoided emissions dimensions, as well as the management of related environmental and social risks. This includes identifying the role that green enabling projects play in catalysing and scaling the transition to a low-carbon economy in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement while recognising the complexities of value chains and challenges of multiple end-uses.
  
  
• Guidelines for Sustainability-Linked Loan financing Bonds (SLLBs): these guidelines, developed jointly with the Loan Market Association (LMA), define a dedicated bond instrument designed for issuers wishing to finance or re-finance a portfolio of eligible sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) aligned with the LMA’s Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles (SLLP). SLLBs may serve as an incentive to enhance the robustness of sustainability-linked loan structures in the market over the longer-term.

The Principles have also released today further guidance, specifically:

• An update of the Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles with clarifications to support KPI selection and a new SLB disclosure data checklist.
• An expansion of the SLB KPIs Registry related to environmental themes (biodiversity, circular economy/raw materials and water) as well as additional KPIs for sovereign issuers.
• A new annex of the Impact Reporting Handbook covering potential environmental and/or social risks associated with eligible project categories for green bonds.

The Principles also announced the renewal of half of the 24 members of its Executive Committee following an annual vote in line with its governance. The standards and guidance from the Principles are developed with the input of over 330 market participants and stakeholders, as well as the participation of many other organisations through technical working groups. The Principles are the de facto global standard referenced by 98% of sustainable bond issuance.

The 2024 Annual Conference of Principles is being held in hybrid format in Amsterdam on Tuesday 25 June. The full day conference agenda in Amsterdam combines keynote speeches and panel discussions with leading market figures and experts in sustainable finance. It features key updates on the 2024 guidance from the Principles, as well as the critical topics being debated in sustainable finance from a global perspective including transition finance, market integrity and regulation.

Isabelle Laurent, Deputy Treasurer, EBRD and Chair of the Principles, said: “Over the last 10 years since the establishment of the Green Bond Principles, its convening power and the body of work that has been produced under its auspices, including new innovative products and guidance, has served to support the role that capital markets can play in advancing the sustainability agenda and mobilising finance towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the wider Sustainable Development Goals. We will drive hard to ensure that the next 10 years sees the work of the Principles continue with equal vigour and success”.

Nicholas Pfaff, Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Sustainable Finance, ICMA, said: “The Principles are releasing ground-breaking guidance for financing green enabling projects while taking into account the underlying sustainability challenges of their supply chains. With the publication of the new Sustainability-Linked Loan financing Bonds, we are otherwise creating both a new financing opportunity in the debt capital markets while also aiming to support the integrity of sustainability-linked loans.”

Agnes Gourc, Head of Sustainable Capital Markets, DCM Structuring & Solutions, BNP Paribas and Vice-Chair of the Principles, said: “The Principles have been leading the sustainable bond markets developments for the past 10 years. By incorporating market-wide insights and best practices, the Principles are providing this year again new avenues for the market to facilitate more financing to reach the global environmental and social goals. In particular, we hope the Guidance for Green Enabling Projects will help more issuers further up the value chain to access the green bond market.”

Alban de Fay, Head of Fixed Income SRI Processes, Senior Portfolio Manager, AMUNDI and Vice-Chair of the Principles, said “This year, the Green Bond Principles celebrate their 10th anniversary and represent the most mature sustainable bond market. However, they still require adjustments and adaptations. Overall, the releases of the Principles and the development of new guidelines illustrate the shared commitment of investors, issuers, and underwriters to bring even more credibility to these markets by encouraging greater standardization while taking into account new developments and innovations in this market. It truly showcases the beauty of a thriving ecosystem.”

Gemma Lawrence-Pardew, Head of Sustainability at the Loan Market Association, said: “The Loan Market Association is proud to have collaborated on the guidelines for Sustainability-Linked Loan financing Bonds. These innovative instruments will enhance the robustness of the sustainability-linked loan market and offer issuers a new way to finance sustainable projects. Our partnership with the Principles reflects our commitment to advancing sustainable finance and establishing clear frameworks to help drive the future development of this segment of the loan market.”

Featuring a selection of industry-leading guests including experts from the likes of the European Investment Bank, HSBC, A&O Shearman and BofASecurities, the series looks beyond the trends and headlines to offer fresh insights and analysis on topics such as sustainability and digitalisation, as well as shining a spotlight on specific markets, their intricacies and developments.  

Industry veteran and ICMA CEO Bryan Pascoe kicks off the series, providing career advice and outlining the importance of education, mentorship and ongoing professional development within the financial sector.

Commenting on the launch of the vlogs, Pascoe said: “Market capacity building is critical in promoting efficiency and well-functioning capital markets, and that is part of ICMA’s core mission. By bringing together this group of experienced market leaders to share their insights in this series, we hope to continue promoting the highest standards across the sector. The capital markets are evolving fast – and it’s never been more important for participants to stay updated on trends and best practice.”

Episode 2, also released today ahead of next week's Annual Conference of the Green Bond Principles – marking 10 years since their launch – features former Chief Sustainable Finance Advisor of the European Investment Bank and green bond pioneer, Eila Kreivi.  With sustainable bond issuance becoming increasingly mainstream – and now bringing together sub-sectors like green, blue, social and Sustainability-Linked bonds – Kreivi discusses the importance of a well-educated market in getting the most out of these often complex instruments.

Describing the challenges of the green transition, Kreivi comments: “Municipalities and cities, for example, have a lot of work to do in decarbonisation. They are responsible for a lot of carbon emissions, but don’t necessarily have a lot of resources to dedicate to interpreting the intricacies of green finance and green bonds or green loans. They need a lot of education and capacity building.”

Future episodes will tackle asset management, the repo market, and primary as well as secondary markets. The series can be accessed via ICMA’s website, YouTube and available from all major podcast providers.

As the leading provider of capital markets training for five decades, ICMA Education & Training’s suite of courses enable market participants to build a solid understanding of the changing capital market environment.

To find out more about ICMA Education & Training, please click here.

''Let's Talk Markets'' - Episode 1 - ICMA CEO Bryan Pascoe & Marc Granville, Head of ICMA Education & Training

''Let's Talk Markets'' - Episode 2 - Discussing 10 Years of the ICMA Principles

Click here to read the feedback.

In the post pandemic era, the allure of a career in traditional financial markets appears to be challenged. A survey by the Economic Times reports that in 2022, 65% of the moves by middle and senior level executives were to other industries, with departures more than double than those of new hires. This is further compounded by

• demographic challenges as the baby boomer generation gradually retires;
• the shift in values and changing social priorities among Gen Z - sustainability is now a top priority; and
• advancements in technology.

All of these factors today add fuel to the “war for talent”.

How to participate

Essays should address the theme of how the industry can better align with the values and expectations of the next generation considering the fast pace and demanding environment of capital markets; as well as look into the innovative strategies and culture shifts needed to redefine the capital market to continue its appeal as a career destination for young professionals.

• The essay should be in English between 2,500 and 4,000 words in length.
• One contribution per person is permitted.
• It should be submitted as a word document double line spaced, with your full details (name, email, telephone, job title, company name and up to date CV).
• The essay should be an original piece of work from the contributor, not previously submitted to other competitions. AI generated essays will be disqualified.
• The essay author must be working for an ICMA member firm at the time of the submission deadline and the date of the award event.

Please be advised that the deadline for submissions has now passed.

Submissions will be shortlisted by members of the IFL committee and ICMA staff members, with the final selection being made by ICMA’s executive committee and the Chair of IFL.

The winning entry, to be announced in November, will receive:

• a €3,000 cash prize;
• a mentoring opportunity with the Chair of the ICMA Board;
• a complimentary place on an ICMA online training course of their choice; and
• the opportunity to have their essay published in select ICMA publications as well as present it at an ICMA Board meeting and at an IFL event.

There will also be two runners up, who will receive €1,000 cash prize each and a complimentary place on an ICMA online training course of their choice.

For more information, contact: futureleaders@icmagroup.org.

Our thanks to the ICMA Future Leaders steering committee representatives who worked on this essay competition:

Samira Meier Crédit Agricole CIB (Frankfurt) IFL Germany	Ezien Hoo Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd IFL Asia Pacific	Odinaka Linus-Nwokonkwo Access Bank Plc IFL West Africa	Katsiaryna Souvandjiev Raiffeisen Bank International AG IFL Austria

The conference programme featured topics relating to our core fixed income market areas, as well as insights from leading industry speakers on the current state and prospects for capital markets, focusing on the geopolitical and regulatory landscape, the sustainability agenda and FinTech developments.

In addition, the evening receptions at the Royal Museum of Art & History and the Gare Maritime Tours & Taxis provided the opportunity for delegates to reconnect with peers and make valuable new industry contacts. ICMA’s event drew together market participants from 44 countries across the globe.

Highlights, photos, speeches and recordings from the event are available here.

ICMA’s response reflects the views of a subset of its DLT Bonds Working Group, notably issuers, banks, investors, market infrastructures and law firms across the international debt capital markets.

 Key points:

• ICMA members welcome the opportunity to provide feedback on the “Sandbox” and support innovation in capital markets.
  
• Whilst ICMA members are in principle supportive of the draft Guidance on the operation of the Digital Securities Sandbox, we recommend (a) adopting a more flexible approach to applying limits for live transactions on a firm-by-firm basis (b) enabling Sandbox participants to scale on a continuous basis, and (c) expanding the scope of securities to non-sterling currencies within the Sandbox. This is considered key to ensure commercial viability for Sandbox entrants.
• A more tailored approach for Sandbox entrants that are regulated would be beneficial, allowing firms to bypass requirements provided they are already met outside the Sandbox.
• Final, or “end-state” rules should be reviewed and adjusted dependent on learnings from the Sandbox.
• Should an alternative framework for non-systemically relevant CSD’s be established, ICMA members recommend calibrating Sandbox rules accordingly for systemically relevant and non-systemically relevant participants.
• Activity inside the Sandbox should not preclude same or similar activity from taking place outside the Sandbox subject to different structuring choices.
• We encourage close coordination between regulators, with regard to permanent legislative changes made by HMT and firms graduating out of the Sandbox in order to avoid undue delays or cliff-edge risks.
• Notwithstanding legal and regulatory aspects, common standards such as ICMA’s Bond Data Taxonomy play a critical role in avoiding market fragmentation and fostering interoperability.

ICMA’s detailed response can be found here.

The following were elected to the Board:

• Adam Bothamley, Global Head of Debt Capital Markets, HSBC Bank PLC, London
• Charlotte Conlan, Vice Chair, Global Leveraged Finance, BNP Paribas, London
• Fabianna Del Canto, Co-Head of EMEA Capital Markets, MUFG Securities EMEA plc, London
• Carey Evans, Managing Director, Co-Head of EMEA Government Affairs & Public Policy, BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V., Brussels Branch, Brussels
• Jérôme Jean Haegeli, Group Chief Economist, Swiss Re Management Ltd, Zurich
• Marc Lewell, Head of International Syndicate, J.P. Morgan Securities plc, London
• Stéphane Malrait, Managing Director, Global Head of Market Structure & Innovation for Financial Markets, ING Bank, London

View the full list of ICMA board members

• Pair-offs: As part of the ERCC’s ongoing efforts to support post-trade efficiency and help reduce settlement fails, the ERCC has been working on guidance in relation to ad hoc bilateral netting or “pair-offs”. The objective has been to help standardise the pair-off process, in order to make manual pair-offs more efficient and to facilitate automation, which would make an important contribution to settlement efficiency. The related work was led by the ERCC Operations Group resulted in a proposed checklist for bilateral pair-off agreements, including guidance on the related workflow and deadlines, both agnostic to the underlying technology. 
  [Following the initial release, the checklist was further reviewed, and an updated version was published on 13 August 2024].
  
  
• Error trades: Following initial bilateral discussions with trading platforms, the ERCC worked on a set of best practices related to cancellations by Automatic Trading Systems (ATS) of trades that have been executed in error. The resulting ERCC recommendations provide some high-level guiding principles which aim to ensure consistency of error cancellation policies across the various platforms. The proposed recommendations have been prepared based on input from ERCC members and subsequently endorsed by the ERCC Committee. However, wider feedback, especially from the relevant ATS providers would be very welcome.

The ERCC invites all market participants as well as the relevant infrastructure and service providers to review the proposed recommendations published today and to provide feedback. If you have any comments or additional suggestions on either of the documents, please reach out to us at ercc@icmagroup.org.

17 May 2024 

The working group’s aim has been to develop and promote a globally consistent, interoperable, and proportionate voluntary code of conduct for ESG ratings and data products providers who deliver goods and/or services in Hong Kong (VCoC). As such, the working group has taken into account the recommendations from the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ (IOSCO) report on “Environmental, Social and Governance Ratings and Data Products Providers”, as well as existing industry standards.

The consultation period will run up to 17 June 2024. The proposed Code of Conduct and related documentation are available for download in English and Chinese. Interested stakeholders are invited to submit their comments via email to vcwgsecretariat@icmagroup.org.

Download the draft Code:
ENGLISH VERSION | CHINESE VERSION

Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA, said “ESG ratings and data products are essential resources for the sustainable finance market. We are pleased to coordinate this important working group sponsored by the SFC to develop and promote a voluntary code of conduct. We will continue to contribute our considerable experience in bringing about industry-led standards and our global expertise in sustainable finance.”

Julia Leung, the SFC’s Chief Executive Officer added “We are deeply encouraged by the progress made by the industry-led working group under the leadership of ICMA. The code, together with the self-attestation document, will be vital in fostering greater transparency, quality and reliability of ESG information, as well as comparability of products.”

14 May 2024

The survey measured and analysed the value of outstanding repo plus reverse repo on the books of 60 participants at close of business on 13 December 2023. Given that the ICMA surveys a sample of the European repo market, the headline number must be taken as the minimum size of the European market.

Download the 46th ICMA ERCC European Repo Market Survey

The size of the survey grew 5.1% year-on-year to a record EUR 10,899 billion, continuing the uptrend that started in 2016 by the ECB’s Enhanced Asset Purchase Programme (EAPP) and the market’s assimilation of post-GFC Basel regulations on capital, leverage and liquidity.

Adjusting for changes in the composition of the survey sample, notably the withdrawal of Credit Suisse, reveals faster underlying growth of 3.1% in the second-half of 2023 and no deceleration in the growth of the survey sample since the first-half but confirms that there was a significant slowing-down in the rate of growth since 2022.

Summary of key findings:

• The long-term net reverse repo position (lending cash and borrowing securities) of the survey sample, which reflected the collateral scarcity created by central bank asset purchases had been dramatically reduced in June by the central bank pivot from QE to QT and increased government securities issuance. However, the net reverse repo position was largely restored in December as dealers transferred balance sheet capacity from Europe to the US and Asia and increased their borrowing of US Treasuries and JGBs in response to expectations of shifts in monetary policy.
• The transfer of balance sheet capacity from Europe to the US and Asia was also reflected in increased positions in the US dollar and Japanese yen, a decline in the share of European bonds (although gilt repo was sustained by the high yields on sterling assets) and a higher share for cross-border trading into and out of the eurozone.
• The shift in balance sheets also seems to have depressed trading in automatic repo trading systems (ATS) in Europe, as these platforms specialise in European government securities. ATS also may have lost volume because of the reduced need of dealers to rebalance collateral (a key function of these platforms) as a result of increased issuance of government securities. This had a knock-on effect on CCP-clearing, which is intimately linked to automatic trading. CCP-clearing may also have been affected by the benign market conditions at year-end.
• Tri-party repo continued to recover as central banks drained liquidity and reduced the return on official non-monetary deposits. The tri-party market also saw further inflows of covered bonds as the ECB’s TLTRO facility continued to be unwound.
• The shares of floating-rate repos in the survey continued to grow as interest rate hikes continued over the summer.
• Unusually for end-year, short dates increased. However, strong growth in positions between one and six months lengthened the overall weighted average term-to-maturity of repo books, reflecting collateral swaps, which are used to reduced balance sheet size at end-year.

29 April 2024

A copy of the guidance can be found here.

The guidance is the result of a collaboration between ICMA, IsDB and LSEG, who convened at COP28 in December 2023. It aims to provide issuers and other key market participants with practical information on how sukuk may be labelled as green, social or sustainability and aligned with the ICMA Principles through examples, case studies and best practices, thus helping the development of the sustainable sukuk market. The guidance also includes data from LSEG reflecting the current state of the sustainable sukuk market, which has now seen over $47 billion in issuance since 2017, with $13.4 billion issued in 2023 – a 42% increase from the previous year.

The guidance confirms the wide applicability of the Principles across the global sukuk market and helps ensure that the market continues to develop with high standards and integrity.

Announcing the launch of the guidance, Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA said: "Today’s launch marks a critical step in establishing and maintaining globally consistent standards in the key growth segments of sustainable finance and Islamic finance. We believe the guidance is an important building block for further 'scaling-up' of sustainable finance instruments, including sustainable sukuk, to help plug the massive climate funding gap, as well as raise finance for other environmental and social goals."

H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, President of IsDB stated, “This industry initiative is another milestone achievement that demystifies the Sukuk asset class, defines sustainable sukuk and demonstrates their alignment with the ICMA Principles. This is crucial to expand the sukuk market, attract more investors and unleash more capital towards the SDGs.”

Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London Stock Exchange, added: “This initiative, announced at COP28, was crafted through consultations with key stakeholders in the sustainable bond and sukuk markets, including leading issuers, investors, underwriters, and law firms. The guidance confirms the wide applicability of the ICMA Principles and that all project categories and themes for use-of-proceeds bonds, such as gender, blue and transition, are consistent with Shar’iah investing.”

ICMA, IsDB and LSEG intend to engage with a broader set of stakeholders on the guidance in the coming months, including Sha’riah boards, regulators, rating agencies, non-profit organisations and other market participants to ensure that the guidance is embedded across various markets. Further updates to the guidance may be made once this is completed.

• Charltons, Hong Kong
• Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd., Japan
• Snam S.p.A., Italy

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

ICMA offers members* a business-critical service through the provision of these annually updated legal opinions.

Full list of jurisdictions covered by the legal opinions

*Full access to the ICMA GMRA legal opinions is not provided to non-subscribing tier 3 and associate members. Official institution members are exempt from the subscription service. For more information and to subscribe, see here.

In particular we welcome:  

(i) The more realistic timeline provided, with a target date in 2027,

(ii) the possibility for a narrow scope of instruments which would exclude instruments settled outside of the UK, such as Eurobonds; and

(iii) a relatively flexible mandate given to the newly established Technical Group (TG), an open and expert forum largely driven by market practitioners, of which ICMA forms part.

We look forward to further productive work over the next months within the TG and associated subgroups, and towards the Final AST report which is to be published later this year. 

While we believe that the case for T+1 in Europe needs to be weighed more carefully, taking into account the significant risks, challenges and costs as well as longer-term benefits arising from such a move, we are keen to continue to play an active and constructive role in the discussion, both in the UK and the EU. 

Accelerated Settlement Taskforce - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Download the report here:

English version     Chinese version

Amidst global challenges such as fluctuating interest rates, geopolitical tensions, and credit events in the Chinese sector, the Asian international bond markets have demonstrated resilience and adaptability. The report sheds light on the stability of these markets and their ability to navigate through turbulent times.

Key findings from the report reveal that the annual issuance of cross-border bonds from Asia stabilised, with approximately USD 380 billion in 2023, compared to USD 370 billion in 2022. To secure funding, Asian issuers turned to alternative sources such as domestic bond markets, bank loan markets, and private debt markets.

The China offshore market, while still influential, experienced a decline in its overall market share. Challenges within the Chinese property sector have affected spreads and liquidity. However, the central bank's supportive measures have contributed to improved stability towards the end of 2023.

Examining various markets across Asia, including China, India, ASEAN, Japan, and South Korea, the report identifies trends in both issuance and trading of international bonds in the region. Notably, Japan accounted for 30% of Asian international issuance volume in 2023, making it the largest overall source, followed by China and South Korea at 28% and 15%, respectively. Collectively, these three jurisdictions accounted for three-quarters of the entire cross-border Asian bond market.

The Green, Social, Sustainability, and Sustainability-linked bonds markets, which have now become a significant component of the international bond markets, accounted for approximately 21% of all annual international bond issuance volume in Asia, nearly twice the global average of 12%.

While the secondary markets in 2023 continued the rather subdued trend observed in 2022, characterised by higher yields and wider credit spreads, the last quarter of 2023 witnessed a positive reversal in Asia bond markets, mirroring global trends, particularly for investment-grade bonds.

The report also emphasises the deepening liquidity in the repo market for Asia international bonds. More lenders have entered the market, providing greater access for dealers to specific bonds. Factors contributing to this development include higher rates, which have created opportunities for lending specials, increased market volatility, and a demand to cover short positions.

Despite the challenges faced in recent years, market participants anticipate a potential recovery in 2024. The role of China remains critical, with the market hoping that the People's Bank of China can stabilise the property sector while stimulating economic growth. Additionally, the lower US yields may attract more Asian corporates to re-enter the international market.

ICMA Chief Executive Bryan Pascoe remarked, "Asian financial centres continue to play a significant role in the development of international bond markets, despite the macroeconomic headwinds experienced in 2023. Beyond the headline figures, we see foundational work in digitalisation that should drive strong growth."

In line with the ongoing internationalisation of the RMB bond market, the opening of China’s repo market is expected to drive further convergence in institutional rules, as channels for mutual recognition of cross-border collateral between China and foreign markets are established. The paper was initially presented in October 2023 at the China Bond Collateral International Forum and the Chinese version of the White Paper already gained significant market interest. The release of the English version of the paper is hoped to further reinforce the role of Renminbi bonds as collateral in the global market, fostering increased interest from international investors.

In particular, ICMA is making recommendations to:

• Build depth, liquidity and resilience in the EU’s bond markets
• Enable EU citizens to save for their retirement by investing in bond markets
• Reinforce the EU’s leadership in sustainable finance
• Improve the efficiency and integration of the post-trade landscape across the EU
• Strengthen support at the EU level for digital bonds and the digital wholesale euro

The above recommendations aim to support the development of an efficient, effective, and internationally competitive EU bond market, enabling the bond market to serve EU policy objectives.

Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive Officer of ICMA added “Bond markets have a key role to play in helping the EU address the transformational changes needed to support long-term sustainable development, innovation, competitiveness, and growth. ICMA is delighted to present this paper to highlight how bond markets can perform this function and how to enhance the EU regulatory framework for capital markets.”
 

One of the core objectives of MiFID II/MiFIR was to provide greater public transparency of secondary trading activity in the EU and UK markets. As solutions have evolved to consolidate the disperse sources of public data, ICMA has sought to leverage the capabilities of such initiatives to provide a detailed and holistic view of bond market activity in the EU and UK.

It is estimated that the report captures more than 80% of all secondary bond market transactions reported in the EU and UK and is therefore relatively representative of the aggregated bond market data as reported under the MiFID II/MiFIR obligation.

This report, which follows the report published for H1 2023, provides an update after two years of bond market data, covering the period January 2022 through December 2023. Working with Propellant, ICMA believes that this latest data set provides a more accurate representation than the previous report.

ICMA commits to updating this report on a semi-annual basis in order to be able to track long-term trends in secondary bond market structure and activity. ICMA also expects that in time both the depth and quality of the underlying data will improve, particularly as reports such as this seek to present a definitive picture of the European bond markets.
 

Read the open letter here.

• Autostrade per l'Italia S.p.A., Italy
• Cassa depositi e prestiti S.p.A., Italy
• Commercial Bank of Dubai PSC, UAE
• Hamburg Commercial Bank AG, Germany
• Oldenburgische Landesbank AG, Germany
• Shook Lin & Bok LLP, Singapore
• SynTao Green Finance Co, Ltd., China

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

ICMA analyses the proposals in the context of the causes of settlement fails, the “natural cost” of failing, and behavioural incentives for timely settlement. ICMA concludes that the proposals put forward by ESMA are not only disproportionate, but are unjustified, pointing to the significant improvement in settlement efficiency observed in the EU, particularly in response to a higher interest rate environment.  

ICMA argues that, if implemented, the proposed penalty recalibrations would undermine the competitiveness and credibility of the EU as a global financial marketplace. Furthermore, the extreme distortions that they would bring about may incentivise adverse market behaviour, as being failed would become economically more appealing than facilitating settlement. Meanwhile, these would feed into bid-ask spreads across all bond classes, as well as adversely impairing liquidity.

ICMA points to the US Treasury Markets Practices Group penalty framework as an example of a penalty mechanism that is appropriately designed and proportionately calibrated to achieve its intended purpose – that of disincentivising poor settlement behaviour in low interest rate environments.

The briefing note follows ICMA’s formal response to the ESMA consultation on its proposals.

• ICMA welcomes the opportunity to comment on the FCA’s proposals for improving transparency in bond markets
• ICMA and its members believe that a bond market transparency regime should strike a balance between recognising the diversity of underlying market structures and liquidity profiles of different bond sub-classes and segments, and a need for relative simplicity, in order to facilitate successful and consistent applications. Furthermore, ICMA has strongly argued that the design and calibration of the deferral framework should be based on data
• ICMA recognises that in its proposals, the FCA has sought to achieve these objectives, and we hope that the suggestions and proposals we have provided are helpful in finalising the design and application of the UK’s bond transparency framework, helping to reinforce the UK’s position as a leading, competitive global financial centre
• ICMA also realises that with the introduction of significantly increased post-trade transparency for the bond market there is a risk of “liquidity shock”, as dealers might adjust to greater information symmetry. With this in mind, ICMA in its response puts forward the case for a number of modifications with respect to groupings, thresholds and deferrals
• Finally, ICMA would like to note that the introduction of bond market transparency is a journey and, working closely with the industry and based on regular reviews, with careful analysis of trading data and market liquidity conditions, the FCA should, over time, keep the option to refine and recalibrate the framework as deemed suitable and ICMA would like to support the FCA assist in this process

View the response

5

Focused on the five largest European sovereign bond markets (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK), some of the key findings of the report are: 

• Liquidity in the core European bond markets is generally good, but in recent years liquidity has become much more sensitive to both episodes of unexpected volatility and regulatory reporting dates
• The speed at which markets become volatile (the ‘volatility of volatility’) has increased. 
• Repo markets function well, even in times of heightened stress, but are also subject to sharp drops in liquidity around reporting dates
• Liquidity in the sovereign bond futures markets is generally good, although limited to a few contracts, and again prone to a rapid thinning and widening of prices in times of stress 
• Market participants accept that episodic heightened volatility, with rapid evaporation of liquidity, and a sharp repricing of risk, is the new normal 
• Participants also believe that central banks will be required to intervene in bond markets more frequently and systematically to restore stability 
• The consistent recommendation from market participants, both sell-side and buy-side, to make sovereign bond markets more resilient, is that policy makers and regulators should review the design and calibration of prudential regulation as it applies to primary dealers  

The report is intended to be the first in a series of reports, part of ICMA’s Bond Market Liquidity Taskforce initiative, which will look at other key bond markets. 

ICMA and its members support industry and regulatory efforts to improve settlement efficiency across the EU bond markets. This includes the potential of a penalty mechanism to help to address the subset of “behavioural fails” in very low interest rate environments, highlighting the strong correlation between significant improvements in settlement efficiency and short-term rates in the EU over the past two years. In its response, ICMA points to the US TMPG Penalty Framework as a proportionate and effective mechanism. ICMA’s modelling of settlement efficiency rates in the EU suggests that a longer observation period is necessary in order to identify the effectiveness of a penalty mechanism, as well as the appropriate calibration.

In the meantime, ICMA looks forward to ESMA consulting with stakeholders on other tools to improve settlement efficiency. It is here that ICMA and its members believe that a meaningful and sustainable improvement to EU settlement efficiency can be made, far beyond the relative limitations of a penalty mechanism. In addition, we would also very much welcome a renewed focus of the EU authorities on the important structural barriers to further post-trade integration and consolidation that persist in the EU, and which have been well documented since the early 2000s.

View response here.

ICMA has been at the forefront of transition finance since the release in 2020 of the Climate Transition Handbook (CTFH). Today we publish a new thought-leadership paper on transition finance in the Debt Capital Market.

The paper reviews the latest guidance and recommendations on transition finance from both the market and the official sector. It also underlines the progress of international taxonomies to integrate transition, as well as the latest developments on sectoral pathways and industry roadmaps.

It unpacks transition finance into three overlapping definitions relating to economy-wide transition, climate transition, and hard-to-abate transition. Analysing the data, we confirm that the green and sustainability bond market has been largely dedicated to climate finance but is not a major resource for the transition of companies from the fossil fuel sector and the hard-to-abate industries notably because of “greenwashing” fears.

We see new sustainability corporate reporting standards of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) as an opportunity for the mainstreaming of transition plans which we argue have the potential to unlock transition finance in the sustainable bond market.

We conclude by proposing the voluntary adoption of transition plans by the market in anticipation of regulation and make available a model structure for integrated transition plans aligning with the CTFH, IFRS S2, ESRS E1, and the UK Transition Plan Taskforce recommendations.

“Climate transition finance is at the top of the agenda among both policy makers and market participants. With this paper we define transition finance with greater clarity while acknowledging the progress of both official and market guidance. We also propose a model structure for integrated transition plans to help unlock further the potential of the sustainable bond market to finance transition especially in the fossil fuel and hard-to-abate sectors.” said Nicholas Pfaff, Deputy CEO and Head of Sustainable Finance at ICMA.   

The new students will study online for an ICMA Diploma in either debt capital markets, securities & derivatives or financial market operations, starting next month.

Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive, said “ICMA’s scholarship programme reflects our commitment to raise professional standards globally while assisting the development of emerging and frontier countries to foster the cross-border market. I would like to congratulate our 2024 scholars and I wish them all the best with their ongoing studies and careers."

Alituha Amooti Amos Uganda	Kalopa Chipati Zambia	Efua Colecraft Caiquo Ghana	Adam Emeshaw Workalemahu Ethiopia	Marvin Igano Philippines
Virginia Kagoveri Mbiri Kenya	Racheal Kuokor Kotey Ghana	Joseph Lameck Tanzania	Betselot Leulseged Bekele Ethiopia	Deborah Maimu Tanzania
Theresa Mazimba Zambia	Munyaradzi Mbavari Zimbabwe	Thuy Nguyen Vietnam	Rabphorn Tubtimthai Thailand	Itoro Uwemedimo Etim Nigeria

View the list of recipients of the 2023 scholarship programme.

View the list of recipients of the 2022 scholarship programme.

 Key messages:

• ICMA welcomes the introduction of a UK consolidated tape for bonds to improve bond market transparency, thereby reducing the cost of accessing bond data, with the view that this could lead to a greater market participation, improving overall liquidity and market efficiency, and ultimately strengthening the UK’s position in the international wholesale debt capital markets.
• In line with ICMA’s response to FCA CP23/15 ‘The Framework for a UK Consolidated Tape’, ICMA members do not see any requirement for the CTP to contribute to data providers’ connectivity cost recovery and therefore do not agree with the three options proposed by the FCA under CP23/33.
• Further details can be found in ICMA’s response under this link.

ICMA ERCC Committee 2024 – 2025

Charlie Badran
AXA Investment Managers Ltd

Michel Semaan
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.

Thomas Hansen
Banco Santander S.A.

Nick Daunt
Barclays Capital Securities Limited

Emma Cooper
BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited

Eugene McGrory
BNP Paribas

James Cherry
Clearstream Banking

Andreas Biewald
Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft

Frank Gast
Eurex Repo GmbH

Marije Verhelst
Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V.

Ned Taylor
HSBC Bank plc

Philip Boyce
J. P. Morgan Securities plc

Antony Baldwin
LCH Ltd

Daniel Bremer
Merrill Lynch International

Anja Kleefsman
PGGM Vermogensbeheer B.V.

Sylvain Bojic
Société Générale S.A.

Nicola Danese
Tradeweb Europe Limited

Gareth Allen
UBS AG

Arne Theia
UniCredit Bank AG

• Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, United Arab Emirates
• aosphere Trading Limited, United Kingdom
• Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada
• GIC Private Limited, Singapore
• H Capital Ventures Management Consultancies Co. LLC, United Arab Emirates
• J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A., United States
• Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd., Israel
• SFIL, France
• Standard Chartered Bank AG, Germany
• TreasurySpring Management (Jersey) Limited, United Kingdom
• UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia, a.s., Czech Republic

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

Year-end repo market pricing and liquidity are generally a focus of market attention, with the euro market proving itself particularly vulnerable to significant dislocations in recent years. ICMA’s European Repo and Collateral Committee (ERCC) has published a review of repo market performance and conditions over the “turn” of the year since the wholly unexpected and somewhat unprecedented extreme price moves observed in the euro repo market at 2016 year-end.

Following an expensive, but relatively calm, 2022 year-end and a year of central bank ‘normalization’ of monetary policy, the 2023 turn was never expected to be as problematic as previous year-ends, even with it being four calendar days in duration. In many ways, the interest was largely to see how ‘normal’ the end of 2023 would be.

The report showed that Compared to previous year-ends, the 2023 turn for the euro repo market proved to be relatively unexceptional. While the market began pricing in around 250bp premium for German GC and 150bp premium for French GC back in October, this continued to erode as we got closer to the end of the year, ultimately trading around 60bp and 40bp rich respectively.

Non-core euro GC was even less spectacular, tightening by around 15bp.

Similarly, the dispersion in rates for specials was relatively contained and largely in line with the moves in GC.

This relative calmness is attributed to a number of factors, namely: a reduction in the level of excess reserves; an increase in the supply of government bonds; general deleveraging and a lack of positioning by hedge funds; the collapse in the EUR-USD FX basis; and reduced pressure on bank intermediation arising from various regulatory reporting requirements.

The report also provides commentary and analysis of year-end for the sterling, dollar, and yen repo markets.

While in previous years the survey has been split into two, one for trading in Japan and the other for trading elsewhere in the APAC region, the survey for 2023 covers only the APAC non-Japan region.

In broad terms, across the APAC non-Japan region, the survey reported USD 269.1 billion in outstanding value and an average daily turnover of USD 12 billion, compared with USD 310.0 billion and almost USD 43 billion per day in 2022. However, the survey size was reduced by the loss of previous participants rather than a contraction in the market. The main contribution of the survey is to illuminate the structure of the cross-border repo market in Asia and changes in the composition of the flows (see the main survey findings below).

“We are delighted to introduce the newest ASIFMA/ICMA repo survey” said ICMA Chief Executive, Bryan Pascoe. “Since 2016, this survey has served as a valuable resource, providing insights into the dynamics of the Asia-Pacific cross-border repo markets. We hope that work such as this will continue to benefit our members, authorities and regulators and other market participants in the region.”

“The ASIFMA/ICMA survey shows the growing importance of repo across the region and the dynamics of its structure and stakeholders,” added Philippe Dirckx, Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income at ASIFMA. “Parallel to the survey, this edition includes, for the first time, a snapshot of the onshore repo markets in China and India. We have also asked our members their priorities in markets they are operating in and the new APAC markets on their radar. This edition is therefore as much a state of play as a roadmap for the region’s key stakeholders.”

Download the ICMA/ASIFMA Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) repo market survey here.
 

• The survey suggested modest growth in the outstanding value of the ex-Japan APAC repo market but declining turnover, which implies more longer-term transactions
• The bulk of business continued to be directly negotiated with counterparties but electronic trading increased its share, albeit from a low base. The survey sample ran net repo (cash borrowing) positions in electronic and voice-brokered trades and a net reverse repo (cash lending) position in directly-negotiated trades
• CCP-clearing played a small and diminishing role. Repos tended to be cleared on a CCP after having been negotiated directly between counterparties rather than on an ATS (that is, repo tended to be cleared by post-trade registration)
• Tri-party repo continued to fade
• Cross-border business with APAC and non-European counterparties increased its share of the survey, whereas the shares of business with counterparties in Europe, in euros and in eurozone collateral continued to dwindle
• There was a shift in the allocation of collateral into JGBs and some other APAC securities, although US Treasuries and international securities (eurobonds) retained very significant shares. The survey sample was a net lender of JGBs
• Government securities remained the principal type of collateral. The increase in JGBs helped to boost the share of government securities to two-thirds of the size of the survey
• The US dollar remained the dominant currency in the survey. The Japanese yen took second place from the Australian dollar, in line with the shift in collateral composition
• As in the European market, floating-rate repo increased its share, reflecting rising interest rates
• There was a fall in the share of short-dates in favour of longer-term, open and forward repos. The most active maturity band continued to be one week to one month
• Transactions overwhelmingly remained in the form of repurchase transactions
• Reflecting the scale of use of repurchase transactions, most reported transactions continued to be documented under the GMRA

In January 2024, we celebrated 10 years of the Green Bond Principles. A lot has been achieved in that time.

In this video, we pay tribute to the progress made and the community driving this change.

Bryan Pascoe, ICMA Chief Executive said: “I would personally like to thank Paul for his extraordinary dedication and commitment, and for the unique contribution he has made to ICMA and the international capital markets more broadly. I look forward to continuing to work with Paul in his current and future roles through this year.”

A comprehensive search for Paul’s succession will begin immediately and further information will follow once this has been undertaken.

• A2A S.p.A., Italy
• British Arab Commercial Bank plc, United Kingdom

Click here to view the full list of ICMA members