FpML™ (Financial products Markup Language) is the business information exchange standard for electronic dealing and processing of financial derivatives instruments. It establishes a new protocol for sharing information on, and dealing in swaps, derivatives and structured products. It is based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), the standard meta-language for describing data shared between applications.

The standard, which is freely licensed, is intended to automate the flow of information across the entire derivatives partner and client network, independent of the underlying software or hardware infrastructure supporting the activities related to these transactions. FpML is of value when the direct communication of derivative trade descriptions and environment information between two firms is desired. Ultimately, it will allow for the electronic integration of a range of services, from Internet-based electronic dealing and confirmations to the risk analysis of client portfolios.

www.fpml.org