Approved Trade Source Systems

In order to maintain the integrity of the SwapAgent service, SwapAgent requires that all Approved Trade Source Systems meet the ATSS Service Specifications below. Applicants to become an ATSS should contact swapagentsales@lch.com.

ATSS SERVICE SPECIFICATIONS

To provide such trade details as are necessary for a legally binding trade, including all information contained in a trade confirmation pursuant to an ISDA master agreement or equivalent industry documentation:

SwapAgent is not counterparty to trades that are submitted to the service. In a cleared context, LCH takes comfort that all cleared contracts are governed by the LCH rulebook. SwapAgent relies on the underlying bilateral trade containing all the terms necessary for a trade to be legally binding and transacted pursuant to an ISDA master agreement (or equivalent) to ensure the integrity of the underlying arrangements for which it acts as calculation and settlement agent.

To facilitate post trade events for the SwapAgent service:

Post trade events are an important part of the SwapAgent service. An ATSS must be able to provide support for all applicable products and event types and deliver messaging to ensure that SwapAgent is able to process these events appropriately. The ATSS must maintain and update confirmation records for each Trade that originates on the ATSS.

Robust Disaster Recovery and Cyber Security Arrangements

Participants must be able to continue to submit trades at all times. Disaster recovery and robust cyber security arrangements are critical. In many respects the LCH group is applying an equivalent level of scrutiny to the SwapAgent service as it does to the SwapClear service. This includes from a resiliency perspective. Disaster recovery and cyber security are important aspects of this approach.

Matched particulars:

An ATSS must provide a service through which participants can confirm that their trade particulars are correct. Once confirmed by each party to the transaction, the ATSS must submit the matched transaction to SwapAgent: (i) to enable SwapAgent to reconcile trade particulars to the ATSS; (ii) provide comfort that through the ATSS’s documentation with those participants, those participants have legally bound themselves to those trade particulars; and (iii) that the particulars are an accurate reflection of the bilateral trade submitted to the SwapAgent service. This ensures that SwapAgent is able to appropriately reconcile trade particulars and provides comfort that participants are correctly matched and that an accurate reflection of the bilateral trade is submitted to the SwapAgent service.

Service Support

An ATSS must be able to provide adequate operational support at all times that SwapAgent is open for business to ensure that participants receive appropriate support. This is particularly important where there are a limited number of ATSSs.

STM/CTM

As an integral part of the SwapAgent offering, an ATSS must be able to provide SwapAgent with appropriate messaging regarding the characterisation of a trade as ‘settled to market’ or ‘collateralised to market’.