Financial Markets Standards Board (“FMSB”)

The Financial Markets Standards Board (“FMSB”) was established in 2015 as a private sector response to the Conduct problems revealed in global wholesale Fixed Income Currencies and Commodities (“FICC”) markets after the financial crisis.

FMSB’s purpose is to help raise standards of conduct in global wholesale markets and thereby make those markets more transparent, fair and effective.

FMSB’s outputs are voluntary Standards and other guidance, developed by their membership and designed to illustrate best practice to all market participants, in areas of uncertainty.

These standards are intended to reduce the continuing uncertainty about acceptable practice in opaque and unregulated areas, which is a hazard for FMSB’s members (and other market participants). The ambition is that FMSB’ Standards can be developed quickly and pre-emptively, adopted rapidly and align naturally with the new regulatory approach to behaviour, conduct, compliance, culture and governance in financial services.

FMSB’s approach is open and consultative: working with any interested national and international body, avoiding any duplication and overlap and sharing thinking and output with any other organisation worldwide wishing to use, adopt or copy materials.

FMSB is not a regulatory authority, a trade association, a lobby group, a consultant or a legal advisor; nor does it compete with any of these organisations. FMSB does not produce rules, laws or codes nor have any statutory or regulatory authority.

For further information, please visit the FMSB website.

HSBC is represented on the FMSB’s Advisory Committee by Richard Blackburn, Global Head of Traded and Treasury Risk Management & Global Risk Analytics, Chief Risk Officer, Europe and on the FMSB’s Board by Chris Dickens, Head of Non-Financial Risk, Markets and Securities Services. HSBC also has representation on many relevant FMSB’s working groups.

FMSB had published nine Standards at the end of 2022:

• Binary Options for the Commodities Market
• Reference Price Transactions for the Fixed Income Markets
• New Issue Process Standard for the Fixed Income Markets
• Risk Management Transactions for New Issuance Standard
• Secondary Market Trading Error Compensation Standard
• Standard on use of Term SONIA reference rates
• Standard for the execution of Large Trades in FICC markets
• Standard for the Conduct of Participants in LBMA Precious Metal Auctions
• Standard for the sharing of investor allocation information in the fixed income primary markets

In line with the FMSB Membership rules, HSBC has reviewed its operational policies and procedures and issued the attestation statement below.

HSBC’s FMSB Attestation Statement (as of 15 December 2023):

HSBC Global Banking and Markets acknowledges that the Standards published by the Financial Markets Standard Board (“FMSB”) represent generally recognised good practice in the wholesale financial markets. HSBC Global Banking and Markets confirms that it is committed to conduct its FICC market activities (its “Activities”) in a manner consistent with the Core Principles contained in FMSB Standards, and to have internal policies, procedures and controls reasonably designed to give effect to those Core Principles where they are applicable to its Activities, in a manner that is commensurate with the nature of its Activities in the relevant entity or jurisdiction. This statement of commitment applies to all Standards published by FMSB in final form prior to 31 December 2022.