The FIA Law & Compliance Division’s Give-Up Subcommittee is publishing for public comment proposed changes to the International Uniform Brokerage Execution Services (“Give-Up”) Agreement. The revised agreement is targeted towards simplifying the rate amendment process for Agreements. Changes are limited in scope to those that are rate amendment related. Proposed revisions can be found here [LINK].
The primary changes being proposed are:
- Supported Products. The Committee understands that there has been concern that the mere presence of a rate for a specific product on a rate schedule may imply that Clearing Broker will clear that product for Customer/Trader. To address that concern, Addendum B, Form of Supported Products and Rate Types Schedule, has been added. This Addendum, to be completed by Clearing Broker, lists the products that Clearing Broker will support.
- The terms of this addendum represent limits, as referenced in Section 2 of the Agreement.
- Updates to this addendum become effective immediately upon notice from Clearing Broker to the other parties to the agreement. Clearing Broker can unilaterally update this addendum.
- Clearing Brokers can choose to list supported products on this addendum on either an inclusionary basis or an exclusionary basis. That is, Clearing Brokers can list all the products they will support or, alternatively, Clearing Brokers can list the products they will not support, and all other products are assumed to be supported.
- Supported Rate Types. Rate type refers to pricing referenced per megawatt hour, per barrel, per ounce, etc. The proposed revisions also permit Clearing Broker to indicate on Addendum B which rate types they can support for billing purposes.
- These terms, similar to supported products, represent limits, as referenced in Section 2 of the Agreement.
- Updates to this addendum become effective immediately upon notice from Clearing Broker to the other parties to the agreement. Clearing Broker can unilaterally update this addendum.
- Per proposed revisions to Section 12 of the Agreement, if a rate type is unsupported by Clearing Broker, billing will automatically revert to Customer/Trader for that product. Customer/Trader, in that context, is known as the Alternate Bill-To Party.
- Clearing Brokers can choose to list supported rate types on an inclusionary or exclusionary basis (same as supported products referenced above).
- Rate Schedule. Proposed revisions have been made to Section 12 and Addendum C with the goal of making rate amendments more efficient.
- Under the new proposed structure, all parties to the give-up agreement will agree, upfront, at the time the give-up agreement is formed, to the length of time after Addendum C is revised that it will become effective. Parties can agree to a set number of business days after which all rates will become effective. Alternatively, parties can opt to have Clearing Broker designate an effective date for each amendment to Addendum C.
- Amendments to Addendum C only need to be signed by Customer/Trading and Executing Broker.
- Billing. Section 12 contains additional language regarding billing. This proposed language is intended to assist with aged brokerage in the industry. This language was implemented into the EFRP/Block Agreements in 2021 and the Committee is now proposing to carry it over to the Give-Up Agreements.
- Executing Broker is required to bill Bill-To Party within 60 days after the end of the month in which a trade occurs.
- Customer/Trader is responsible for addressing an incorrectly billed amount directly with Executing Broker.
- Where Clearing Broker is the party being billed, Clearing Broker is:
- Permitted to definitively rely on the invoice without a duty to question or verify it;
- Not responsible for remitting payment for any bill that isn’t timely submitted or where the clearing account of Customer is no longer active with Clearing Broker. Declined Invoices can still be pursued by Executing Broker with Customer/Trader directly.
The above constitutes a non-exhaustive summary of the changes proposed. We strongly encourage interested parties to review the redline changes, linked above, carefully. We also emphasize that this round of changes to the give-up agreements is focused on rate amendment related concerns.
If you have any feedback on the proposed revisions, please email Natalie Tynan a redline mark-up by close of business on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. In order to provide needed and timely updates to these agreements, we intend to adhere to this deadline.
The Give-Up Subcommittee will consider all comments and feedback. The Subcommittee may reach out to you for clarification on your comments and/or feedback. After considering all timely submissions, the Give-Up Subcommittee will recommend revised language to the Law & Compliance Executive Committee for final approval.
FIA will continue to assert copyright over all form agreements that it publishes, including those that incorporate suggestions from industry.
If you have any questions, please contact Natalie Tynan.
Disclaimer: None of the information provided by FIA or its members, including, without limitation, any of the versions of the International Uniform Brokerage Execution Services (“Give-Up”) Agreement, is intended to provide investment, tax, business, legal or professional advice, including, but not limited to, advice regarding what specific limits may apply to any trading. Neither FIA or its members make any representations, warranties, or guarantees as to any information provided, including, without limitation, any of the versions of the International Uniform Brokerage Execution Services (“Give-Up”) Agreement or any of such agreements’ contents.
