8.1 Harmonisation of the unique product identifier: CPMI/IOSCO technical guidance

On 28 September 2017, the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published technical guidance to authorities on a uniform global unique product identifier (UPI) applying to over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives transactions.

The role of the UPI is to uniquely identify each OTC derivative product involved in a transaction that an authority requires, or may in future require, to be reported to a trade repository.

The report envisions a UPI system in which a unique UPI code would be assigned to each distinct OTC derivative product, with each UPI code mapping to a set of data comprised of reference data elements with specific values that together describe the OTC derivative product. The collection of reference data elements and their values for each OTC derivative product would reside in a corresponding UPI reference data library.

The guidance is global in scale, takes account of relevant international technical standards where available and is not specific to a particular jurisdiction. It covers the following areas:

  • the technical principles applicable to the UPI;
  • the UPI reference data elements required for each OTC derivative asset class;
  • the identification of underlying assets and benchmarks of OTC derivative products; and
  • the UPI code structure.

The guidance does not address the governance arrangements or the implementation of the UPI, which are matters the Financial Stability Board will soon consult on.

The CPMI and IOSCO consulted on the technical guidance in December 2015. It is complementary to the technical guidance on harmonisation on the UTI published by the CPMI and IOSCO in February 2017. The CPMI and IOSCO intend to produce guidance on harmonisation of other critical OTC derivatives data elements in the coming months.