The paper is focused on digital assets and discusses how these assets could transform liquidity management and revolutionise the global securities finance industry. Within the paper, the issues that arise in the context of securities lending and digital assets are broadly broken down into three main categories: legal, commercial, and documentation issues.
Securities lending is crucial in facilitating market liquidity and flexible financing, playing a vital role in the smooth functioning of financial markets. Given the potential for digital assets to transform liquidity management, and as the traditional securities market continues to adapt to accommodate the benefits of digitisation, it is important to ensure that the existing framework for securities lending is sufficiently flexible and able to cater for those developments when they arise.
Daniel Franks, derivatives partner at Ashurst said, "We're delighted to have worked on the new whitepaper with ISLA. The paper represents a fundamental first step in analysing and identifying the key considerations and potential issues that may arise when seeking to adapt the GMSLAs for use with digital assets, and further solidifies Ashurst's reputation and standing as a global law firm of choice advising on Digital Assets transformation in global financial markets."
The new white paper follows the appointment by ISLA in August to provide preliminary analysis on the GMSLA within the digital asset landscape.