The FpML.org Standards Committee has now released FpML Architecture Version 1.0 as a Recommendation, according to co-chair Brian Lynn. "The architectural specification addresses topics such as rules for expressing object-oriented (OO) concepts in XML, rules for referencing a single object from several places within an FpML document, rules for identifying the version of an FpML document and naming conventions. The specification also provides a base for the other FpML specifications by providing a consistent way for these to handle the complexity of structured derivatives products. A 'Recommendation' is a work that represents consensus within FpML.org and has the Standards Committee stamp of approval. The Standards Committee considers that the ideas or technology specified by a Recommendation are appropriate for widespread deployment and promote FpML.org's mission. The FpML 1.0 architectural specification containing rules for translating business content into XML has completed its trial recommendation phase and is now endorsed as a recommendation by FpML.org. This version represents a major step forward to establish Financial products Markup Language as the e-Commerce standard for OTC trading of derivatives products, a market that exceeded $88 trillion in notional at year-end 1999. FpML.org is developing the freely licensed FpML standard to automate the flow of information across the entire derivatives partner network, independent of the underlying software or hardware infrastructure supporting the transactions. The consortium is comprised of leading banks and financial institutions that together account for more than 80% of derivatives trading, along with information and software vendors and systems integrators."

Bibliographic information: FpML Architecture Version 1.0. Recommendation 16-March-2001. By: Nic Fulton (Reuters), Andrew Jacobs (IBM), Aidan Killian (Concordia Net), John O'Sullivan (Chase Manhattan Bank), Robert Silver (Deutsche Bank), and Ashutosh Tripathi (J.P. Morgan). 48 pages. Version URI: http://www.fpml.org/spec/2001/rec-fpml-arch-1-0-2001-03-16. Summary: "This document [the FpML Architecture Version 1.0 Recommendation] defines the standard and provides some additional information about the reasoning behind the standard. In addition, the document highlights important changes since FpML v1.0 b2, and provides information on anticipated additions and changes for the future. The FpML 1.0 Products Working Group is the first of many working groups that will use this Architectural Standard." Status: "This document was produced by the Architecture Working Group, with feedback from the Products Working Group, as part of the FpML Version 1.0 Activity. The FpML Board of Directors initiated this Activity in November 1999 to produce a limited scope standard covering trade content definitions for interest rate derivatives, and a more general architecture for FpML. The FpML Architecture Version 1.0 Recommendation has been reviewed by FpML.org members and other interested parties and has been endorsed by the FpML Standards Committee as an FpML Recommendation. It is a stable document and may be used as reference material or cited as a normative reference from another document. FpML.org's role in making the Recommendation is to draw attention to the specification and to promote its widespread deployment. Financial Products Markup Language is subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.0.

Organizations actively participating in the development of the FpML standard include Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, Fuji Capital Markets Corporation, Goldman Sachs, International Business Machines, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Reuters, SunGard Trading and Risk Systems, SwapsWire, S.W.I.F.T., and UBS Warburg.

"FpML (Financial products Markup Language) is a business information exchange standard for electronic dealing and processing of financial derivatives instruments. It establishes a new protocol for sharing information on, and dealing in, financial derivatives over the Internet. It is based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), the standard meta-language for describing data shared between applications. All categories of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives will eventually be incorporated into the standard; however, the current version focuses on interest rate swaps and Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs)."