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ISLA Launches Document Digitisation Working Group

ISLA is delighted to announce the commencement of a new working group dedicated to digitising a complex and data-rich client agreement: the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement (GMSLA).

The ISLA Document Digitisation Working Group will initially focus on encoding the business outcomes from the ISLA Clause Library & Taxonomy into the Common Domain Model (CDM), thus integrating the two foundational pillars of ISLA’s digital standardisation efforts. The group will also create and agree the modelling principles for representing legal clauses, providing a framework for future additions to the taxonomy. The results will be streamlined business processes and improved efficiency for financial institutions.

In the Association’s recent paper ‘The Future of the Securities Lending Market: On the Cusp of Transformation’, David Shone, Director – Market Infrastructure & Technology, ISLA, says “By bringing the CDM and the ISLA Clause Library & Taxonomy together, there is an opportunity to introduce benefits greater than the sum of the parts”, commenting on how clear it is that the industry is on the verge of transforming. “It is time to combine these foundations together into an industry accepted and standardised methodology, representing smart contracts and allowing the securities lending industry to automate, digitise, and meet its future needs head on. This is the intention for this new ISLA working group.”

Member firms are invited to join and participate within the ISLA Document Digitisation Working Group. It is recommended that market participants who are part of legal documentation and technology within their firms are encouraged to join for maximum contribution to solutions sought.

The working group will commence in November, with administration and content being led by the firm D2 Legal Technology (D2LT), who partnered with ISLA on producing the ISLA Clause Library & Technology content suite released in 2021. Akber Datoo, D2LT’s CEO and Founder, says: “The efforts of this working group are imperative to move from the creation of a legal agreement data standard for the GMSLA, to unlocking business value through the digital agenda by giving meaning to GMSLA documentation from the lens of capital, liquidity, risk, collateral, and operations. This is the key step before we can benefit from automation and digitisation.”

At the same time, the first members of the group, Smart Communications and Broadridge, are pioneering industry participation…

“Smart Communications is delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with ISLA on this important initiative and make these lending contracts natively digital,” said Robin Moody, Global Head of SmartDX™ at Smart Communications. “We look forward to contributing our experience working with the world’s largest investment banks to put these important foundations in place so the industry can move to a more digitized and automated future.”

“Broadridge is excited to work with the team to help accelerate this digitization transformation which will benefit the industry,” said Mike Lambert, Securities Lending Product Director at Broadridge Financial Solutions. “This is a great opportunity to incorporate the work done on the Clause Library and Taxonomy with the ground breaking work done on the CDM.”

For more information on the ISLA Document Digitisation Working Group, click here.

ISLA members can join the working group here.

More information on ISLA membership can be found here.

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