Collateral Management


Date: May 2007
Author: Sarah-Jane Dennis

This report has two purposes: first to establish a common understanding of the major principles involved in collateral management between investment management firms, third party administrators (TPAs) and brokers. Second, the paper expands on and discusses some of the key collateral management issues faced by the member firms of the Investit Intelligence community.

We introduce the basic concepts in collateral management - essentially what it is and how it works. We also look at which OTC derivatives are mainly responsible for generating exposures which need collateralising and the levels of resourcing employed in different categories of investment management firms.

We also introduce some of the main components and parameters needed to govern collateral transactions: why they are needed and why they need to be treated with caution - and new developments in collateral management, such as new types of assets acceptable as collateral against exposures. The paper examines the various elements needed to establish a collateral framework and includes those roles and responsibilities across the firm involved in negotiating collateral management documentation.

The research highlights two approaches to supporting the collateral management operation; buying a best of breed system or outsourcing to a provider. It includes a brief description of vendors in the marketplace providing collateral management in their systems and those TPAs currently supplying collateral management services.


Table of contents

Management Summary   1
1.0 Introduction   3
2.0 How Collateral Management Works   5
2.1 Collateral management in practice   6
2.2 Credit support annexes (CSAs)   9
2.3 Issues and themes of collateral management in practice   12
2.4 New developments in collateral   15
3.0 Negotiating Effective Collateral Management Terms   17
3.1 Issues around negotiating ISDAs   18
3.2 The process of negotiation   21
3.3 Collateral policy   24
3.4 Negotiation   27
3.5 Developments in ISDA documentation   34
4.0 Supporting the Collateral Management Operation   35
4.1 Modelling the collateral management activity   36
4.2 Levels of infrastructure investment   38
4.3 Who pays for collateral management?   43
5.0 Options for Implementing Collateral Management   45
5.1 Approach to buying a system (or outsourcing)   46
5.2 Systems with collateral management functionality   50
5.3 Third party providers of collateral management services   52


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