Market Conventions and Guidelines
The New Zealand Financial Markets Association coordinates documentation of industry accepted conventions that describe standard interbank practices in New Zealand's wholesale over-the-counter financial markets.
NZFMA's market conventions:
- are intended to streamline interbank transactions in New Zealand's wholesale over-the-counter financial markets,
- are not legally binding,
- can be overridden by specifically negotiated terms, and
- do not override specific contractual terms, such as Issuer documentation for specific debt securities and International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) documentation for certain derivative contracts.
NZFMA also maintains a repository of standard wholesale financial markets documentation which can be found HERE.
Code of Conduct and Principles for NZFMA Members
The Code of Conduct and Principles for NZFMA members clearly defines ethical principles for acceptable standards of behaviour in the OTC markets. The Principles is intended to raise awareness of the issues and promote responsible decision-making, and its companion, the Code of Conduct, provides rules of behaviour derived from these principles. Staff of NZFMA member organisations working in financial markets are required to understand and adhere to the Codes.
Go to the Code of Conduct and Principles for NZFMA Members
FX Global Code
The FX Global Code has been adopted by NZFMA. The Code provides a set of global principles of good practice in the foreign exchange market and was developed to provide a common set of guidelines to promote the integrity and effective functioning of the wholesale foreign exchange market.
NZFMA have established a public register to facilitate market participants declaring their recognition of, and commitment to adopting the good practices set out in the Global Code. Link here for more information and Statement of Commitment registration form. Go to FX Global Code
Market Conventions
To ensure New Zealand's financial markets maintain high industry accepted standards aligned with international capital markets, NZFMA provides a comprehensive repository of Market Conventions. The Conventions are not legislative or prescriptive in nature. They are designed to mirror the consensus view of the market as to the current accepted practices in the respective markets and to help avoid misunderstandings. Conventions can be varied at will by the mutual agreement of the counterparties to any trade. Go to Market Conventions.
Reference Rate Operating Rules & Principles.
For the Reference Rate Operating Rules/Guidelines & Principles for the BKBM, OCR Compound Index and End-of-Day Closes, please see the NZFBF website.
Market Documentation
NZFMA maintains, reviews and hosts New Zealand's standard derivatives documentation in consultation with Buddle Findlay. Go to the OTC Derivatives Documentation Website.