FBE launches European master agreement amendment

The European Banking Federation (FBE) has launched a derivatives annex to its European master agreement – legal documentation to confirm derivatives trades in the eurozone.

The annex provides two ways of documenting derivatives transactions. One is with reference to market-standard documentation published by professional associations, such as the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. The other is documents published directly by the FBE.

The European master agreement was designed to consolidate the various legal requirements in force throughout the eurozone into one agreement.

“The adoption of the derivatives annex will increase, through the use of a singular master agreement, the parties’ [to a trade] cross-product netting and cross-margining opportunities,” said the FBE in a statement.

The European master agreement was launched in 2001, and is sponsored by the FBE in co-operation with the European Savings Bank and the European Association of Cooperative Banks.