Taskforce on Open Industry Standards
The Taskforce on Open Industry Standards is the result of a commitment from the FIA Board to support a multi-year effort to bring industry stakeholders together to help find ways of modernizing standards and processes in our markets.
Interested in participating in DMIST?
Please complete a Membership Application. Please also review the Terms of Participation and Policies.
Questions? Here is a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for your reference. If you do not see the answer you are looking for, please reach out to Don Byron at dbyron@fia.org or Natalie Tynan at ntynan@fia.org for further information.
Derivatives Market Institute for Standards (DMIST)

FIA has released a progress report on the industry standards initiative. The progress report describes three important near-term objectives for this initiative, which is being spearheaded by a taskforce of representatives from leading brokers, asset managers and clearinghouses.
FIA is working towards the launch of an independent standards body in the second quarter of 2022, and is targeting the "most pressing pain points" in trading and clearing workflow. The first set of standards will focus on processing time for allocations and give-ups.
Download the full report
Modernizing the Listed Derivatives Workflow: A Blueprint for Change

In November 2021, FIA released a report calling on participants in the futures and options industry to work together on a major initiative to improve the efficiency of the trading and clearing process for exchange-traded derivatives. The report, “Modernizing the Listed Derivatives Workflow: A Blueprint for Change", addresses the challenge of achieving industry-wide improvements by establishing a framework for building consensus and collaboration among all segments of the industry, including clearing firms, executing brokers, exchanges, clearinghouses, customers and technology vendors.
Mission
The Taskforce will consist of stakeholders working in partnership to explore best practices, industry-wide standards and operational processes to make global cleared derivatives markets more efficient, resilient and competitive for all market participants.
Working collaboratively and transparently with other market participants, the Taskforce will provide an open forum for the cleared derivatives industry to gather and work toward consensus and shared standards around key operations and technology issues.
Foundational Principles
- Aim for consensus, industry-driven approach
- Must be open and transparent governance
- Leave adversarial hats at the door
- Promote competitive and innovative operating system that encourages interoperability
- Focus on practical, real-world solutions while building a foundation for larger projects
- Develop shared industry metrics that will drive accountability and success