Minutes of the London FXJSC Legal Sub-committee – 21 June 2023

Minutes

Minute 1 – Introduction and Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of 28 February 2023 were approved.

Minute 2 – Meeting Varied People

Sumita Ghosh, Sandeep Tayal and Joshua Plank from the Bank of England gave a presentation on the Bank’s Meeting Varied People (MVP) initiative which was launched in 2021. Its main objectives are to diversify the Bank’s market intelligence contact base, and provide a diverse future pool of candidates for various Markets committees chaired by the Bank.

Minute 3 – Discussion on International Swaps and Derivatives Association Inc’s FX Initiatives

Katherine Darras from International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) gave a brief overview of ISDA and ISDA’s FX initiatives. ISDA recently published a market survey in relation to the 1998 FX & Currency Option Definitions (the “FX Definitions”) and related documentation which received over 50 responses. Following the feedback from the survey, ISDA took note that they need more buy-side input as only 10% of responses were from buy-side institutions. There was broad support to, amongst other things, continue work on disruption events, streamline the EMTA templates and increase consistency between those terms and the broader definitions, upstream the FX Definitions to reduce inconsistency and consolidate existing supplements and additional provisions to the existing FX Definitions. ISDA intends to provide a detailed proposal for further information and clarification.

Katherine also provided an overview of ISDA’s new legal working group, the ISDA FX Legal Steering Committee which was set up earlier this year.

Minute 4 – Discussion on potential changes to the Sub-Committee’s Terms of Reference

Matthew Hartley from the Bank of England presented the amendments made to the Legal Sub-Committee’s Terms of Reference. These amendments were broadly made to align with recent amendments made to the FXJSC Committee and FXJSC Operation Sub-Committee’s Terms of Reference. The changes set out the Legal Sub-Committee’s commitment to ensuring that membership of the Legal Sub-Committee is broadly representative of the wholesale FX market in the UK which includes taking into account individuals’ race, gender or disabilities. Other changes include the addition of confidentiality, interpretation and data protection provisions. The updated terms will be circulated to the Legal Sub-Committee members for their comments.

Minute 5 – Any other business

Sharon Blackman mentioned that she would look to arrange individual meetings with all members of the Legal Sub-Committee before the next meeting.

Attendees

Sharon Blackman (Chair) – Citigroup

George Johnston (Secretary) - Bank of England

Sunil Samani - XTX Markets

Rowland Stacey - Goldman Sachs

Mayank Patel – Bank of America

David Harris – Financial Conduct Authority

Simon Goldsworthy – Deutsche Bank

Rakesh Shah - Standard Chartered

Tamsin Rolls – JP Morgan Chase

Nimisha Kanabar – Morgan Stanley

Krisha Somaiya – UBS

Harkamal Singh Atwal – HSBC

Stephanie Cayer – Natwest Markets

Navin Mathur – London Stock Exchange Group

FXJSC Legal Sub-Committee Secretariat

Matthew Hartley – Bank of England

Hana Mori – Bank of England

Ayodele Cameron – Bank of England

Guest attendees

Katherine Darras – ISDA

Sumita Ghosh – Bank of England

Sandeep Tayal – Bank of England

Joshua Plank – Bank of England

Apologies

Gaynor Wood – CLS

Simon Helm – Tullet Prebon