The International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) has published the 2019 updates to the legal netting opinions which support the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement (GMSLA) for the securities lending industry. Updates have been obtained only for jurisdictions which are not EU member states. Once there is sufficient clarity on the arrangements for the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, ISLA will schedule the update of the EU member state opinions, including the legal opinions for England and Scotland.
The 2019 opinions cover both the enforceability of the netting provisions of the documents as well as the validity of the documents as a whole (subject to certain limitations). While all 2019 opinions cover as a minimum; companies, banks and securities dealers, many also cover insurance companies, hedge funds and mutual funds as parties to the GMSLAs and legacy documentation where relevant. A full matrix listing all of the jurisdictions and counterpart types covered is available here.
The GMSLA is the most widely used standard agreement for international securities lending transactions and is the basis for securities lending activity in many markets.
For more information on the service, including subscription fees, please contact support@isla.co.uk. If you are already a subscriber, please login via the aosphere website to access the opinions.
*Following on from an earlier communication, please note that the 2019 opinions do not cover legacy documents prior to the GMSLA*