19 February 2026 The International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) and the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the formal commencement of their joint initiative to develop a global standardised documentation framework for Shari’ah-compliant repurchase agreement (Repo). The project is officially titled the IIFM/ICMA Islamic Repo (I’aadat Al Shira’a) Master Agreement.This landmark initiative addresses long-standing liquidity management challenges in Islamic finance by replacing fragmented practices with a unified, Shari’ah-compliant, and robust operational standard. The collaboration leverages ICMA’s extensive experience with the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA) and IIFM’s specialised expertise in Shari’ah-compliant standard-setting. Yusuf Battiwala, Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright has been appointed as Legal Counsel for the project.The standardisation project is designed to enhance market liquidity by providing Islamic financial institutions worldwide with reliable tools for short-term funding, while simultaneously reducing operational costs and Shari’ah complexities. Dr. Ahmed Rufai, Acting CEO of IIFM:"We are delighted to partner with ICMA to bring greater standardisation, harmonisation and transparency to the Islamic repo market. By combining ICMA's global expertise in Repo with IIFM’s Shari’ah leadership, we are creating a framework that facilitates efficient liquidity management and strengthens the integration of Islamic finance within global capital markets. This project is a cornerstone of our strategic vision, providing the legal certainty and infrastructure necessary for a more transparent, efficient, and interconnected Islamic financial future."Mr. Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of ICMA added:“Repo is a cornerstone of the global financial market and an essential tool for firms’ liquidity and risk management. By partnering with IIFM to develop a globally standardised, Shari’ah-compliant master agreement, we aim to help with extending the core benefits of repo to the Islamic Finance market, bringing greater clarity, legal certainty and operational efficiency to Islamic repo activity across key markets. This will support Islamic banks and other market participants in managing short-term funding more effectively, and it will strengthen the resilience and connectivity of local capital markets as they continue to deepen and internationalise.”Following the completion of the drafting phase, the standards will be supported by an explanatory memorandum to assist market participants in seamless implementation. We invite ICMA members to contact us if they have any questions or would like to get involved. 

18 February 2026 ICMA’s guide provides an overview of the South African repo market, highlighting recent developments and describing the structure and operation of the market, its infrastructure, types of collateral and counterparties, and the legal and regulatory framework.Download the ICMA guide to repo markets: South Africa This report is the ninth in a series of guides on domestic repo markets, published as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting the development of repo markets globally. Previous guides covering China, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam, were published in 2022 and 2023 (ICMA member login required), followed by Australia in 2024 (open access) and most recently India in 2025(login required).The South Africa guide, which is open access and available to all to download, was made possible through the Special Purpose Reserve Fund of Strate, in the interests of supporting market education and the alignment of South Africa’s financial markets to international best practice.ICMA has played a significant role in promoting the international repo market since the 1990s. This includes the development of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA), which has become the principal master agreement for cross-border repos globally, as well as for many domestic repo markets, supported by annually updated legal opinions in over 70 jurisdictions (view a full list of jurisdictions covered by the 2025 legal opinions update).For more information contact: grcf@icmagroup.org

ICMA welcomes the following new members in February 2026: Ant Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, Hong Kong Challenger Deep Kaiko Inc., United States CTBC Bank Co., Ltd., Taiwan Rating and Investment Information, Inc., Japan Click here to view the full list of ICMA members.

4 February 2026 We are pleased to announce the 21 individuals that were successfully elected to form the new ERCC Committee. The term of office of the Committee will be approximately two years starting immediately and ending on the day the results of the 2028 ERCC elections are announced.ICMA ERCC Committee 2026 – 2028Charlie BadranAXA Investment Managers (part of BNPP Asset Management)Thomas HansenBanco Santander, S.A.Michel SemaanBanque Centrale de Compensation (LCH SA)Nick DauntBarclays Capital Securities Services LtdEmma Cooper BlackRock Investment Management (UK) LtdJulien ChoukrounBNP Paribas James Cherry Clearstream BankingAndreas Biewald Commerzbank AGAmanda Butavand Crédit Agricole CIBFrank Gast Eurex Repo GmbHMarije Verhelst Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V. Ned TaylorHSBC Bank PlcPhilip BoyceJ.P. Morgan Securities PlcHamish ThorntonLloyds Bank Corporate Markets Daniel Bremer Merrill Lynch InternationalAlexander HawkeMorgan Stanley Anja KleefsmanPGGM Vermogensbeheer B.V. Sylvain BojicSociété Générale S.A. Nicola DaneseTradeweb Europe LtdGareth AllenUBS AGArne Theia UniCredit Bank GmbH

4 February 2026 In this position paper, ICMA presents its commentary and recommendations on the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) 2.0 as feedback for the upcoming EU co-legislation process. In short, ICMA welcomes the direction of travel of the SFDR 2.0 which takes into account industry feedback for a simplified disclosure regime and a clearer ESG fund categorisation system. As per the Commission’s proposal, the latter would consist of “Transition”, “ESG Basics”, and “Sustainable” categories. Otherwise, ICMA’s recommendations for further improvement and clarification focus on the following:For the general aspects of the SFDR Extension of exclusions to legacy coal exposure Treatment of non use-of-proceeds (UoP) instruments of public entitie Voluntary disclosure for all relevant funds Effective implementation For the treatment of UoP bonds and funds Explicit recognition of credible market standards and other credible tools Application of category exclusions to UoP bonds and funds.

30 January 2026 The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) welcomes the People's Bank of China's (PBoC) recognition of the GMRA for bond repo transactions involving CIBM bonds | 国际资本市场协会（ICMA）欢迎中国人民银行（PBoC）认可在涉及银行间债券市场债券的回购交易中使用《全球回购主协议》（GMRA)Background背景Pursuant to the September 2025 announcement from the People's Bank of China, China Securities Regulatory Commission, State Administration of Foreign Exchange and related Q&A to broaden access for offshore investors to China's repo market, the PBoC has now recognised the use of the Global Master Repurchase Agreement ("GMRA") for bond repo transactions involving bonds in the China Interbank Bond Market ("CIBM"), following ICMA's filing of the GMRA with the PBoC.根据中国人民银行、中国证券监督管理委员会、国家外汇管理局于2025年9月发布的、旨在拓宽境外投资者进入中国回购市场的渠道的公告及答记者问，继ICMA向中国人民银行备案《全球回购主协议》后，中国人民银行现已认可在涉及中国银行间债券市场（CIBM）债券的回购交易中使用《全球回购主协议》（GMRA）。What is the GMRA?什么是《全球回购主协议》？ The GMRA is the most widely-used market standard master agreement for repo transactions, published and maintained by ICMA, which provides a framework of standard terms and conditions to govern repos between two contracting parties. Having this framework in place means that, whenever a new repo is transacted, the parties do not need to agree all its terms and conditions again. This makes the negotiation of repos more efficient and less prone to inadvertent mistakes.《全球回购主协议》是由ICMA发布并维护的、全球最广泛使用的回购交易市场标准主协议，为双方回购交易提供一套标准条款和条件的框架。有了这一框架，每次进行新的回购交易时，双方无需重新协商所有条款和条件，从而提高谈判效率并降低无意错误的风险。The GMRA clarifies the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, particularly in the event of a default by one of them. Core protections against loss on default include the transfer of legal title to collateral and the operation of close-out netting. Title transfer is intended to ensure that collateral is owned outright by the transferee and, subject to applicable insolvency law, is not treated as part of the insolvent counterparty’s estate. Close-out netting mitigates credit losses by reducing and crystallising exposure to a defaulting party and, where recognised under applicable regulatory frameworks, allows counterparty exposures to be calculated on a net rather than gross basis, thereby reducing regulatory capital requirements.《全球回购主协议》适用于银行间债券市场买断式回购，明确了交易双方的权利和义务，尤其是在一方违约的情况下。违约时的核心风险防护措施包括抵押品法律所有权的转移以及终止净额结算（close-out netting）的运作。所有权转移旨在确保抵押品由受让方完全、无条件地持有，并且在适用的破产法框架下，不会被视为纳入违约对手方的破产财产。终止净额结算通过减少并明确对违约方的风险敞口来降低信用损失，同时，在适用的监管框架允许的情况下，通过将对手方风险按净额而非总额计算，从而减少适用的监管资本要求。ICMA member support and resources for the GMRAICMA的支持与《全球回购主协议》相关资源There are special characteristics in China's repo market (including the latest developments mentioned above), where there may be potential differences in market practice and technical aspects of the relevant trading and settlement process. ICMA's member support and resources should be able to offer help in this regard.中国回购市场具备一定独特性（包括上述最近进展），其市场惯例、交易及结算环节的技术方面可能存在潜在的差异。ICMA所能提供的支持与相关资源应该有所襄助。ICMA annually commissions legal opinions from local counsel on the enforceability of the GMRA and its annexes in over 70 jurisdictions. Depending on the ICMA membership type, these opinions are available as one of the benefits of membership.ICMA每年都会委托各地律师事务所，针对70多个司法管辖区，出具《全球回购主协议》（GMRA）及其附录的法律可执行性意见书。根据有关机构的类型，这些法律意见书作为会员权益之一提供。In addition to annual legal opinions, ICMA also offers members access to a help desk to assist with queries about the GMRA, ad hoc guidance to assist members in understanding the implications of market events, as well as educational material and alerts to members on significant legal developments in jurisdictions where the GMRA is used.除了每年的法律意见书外，ICMA还为机构提供咨询服务台，以协助解决有关《全球回购主协议》的问询，提供专门的指导以帮助机构理解市场事件的影响，还提供培训资料并在使用《全球回购主协议》的司法管辖区发生重大法律动态时向机构发布提醒。The recommendations of relevant ICMA repo working groups are periodically published as a Guide to Best Practice in the repo market, including the members-only Guides to Asia-Pacific Repo Markets. In addition, ICMA members are able to seek specific advice from the working group, which can draw on the expertise and experience of market participants and infrastructures.ICMA相关回购工作组的建议会被定期发布为《回购市场最佳实践指南》，包括仅限ICMA会员访问的《亚太回购市场指南》。此外，有关机构可向工作组寻求具体建议，工作组可借助市场参与者和基础设施的专业知识和经验。ICMA also publishes rules and recommendations for the secondary market (available to ICMA members only), which continues to support efficient cross-border repo trading.ICMA还发布二级市场的规则和建议（仅限ICMA会员访问），以持续支持高效的跨境回购交易。For membership enquiries, please contact ICMA Asia Pacific at apac@icmagroup.org.如需会员相关的咨询，请联系ICMA亚太区：apac@icmagroup.org。

23 January 2026 ICMA’s European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC) has published its latest annual analysis of how the repo market performed over the recent calendar year-end: The European repo market at 2025 year-end.Calendar year-end remains a critical focal point for repo markets, reflecting the interaction between liquidity conditions, balance sheet constraints, and funding demand. Working closely with ERCC member firms, ICMA has assessed year-end market performance annually for the past ten years, following the severe dislocations observed during the 2016 turn. While those extreme conditions have not been repeated, the legacy of that period continues to shape how market participants anticipate and manage year-end funding risk.The 2025 year-end occurred against a materially different backdrop from recent years. Ongoing quantitative normalisation, declining excess reserves, and increased government bond issuance shifted the year-end paradigm away from collateral scarcity and towards more traditional funding pressures. As a result, market expectations going into the fourth quarter centred on the risk of higher repo rates rather than the sharp rate compressions seen in prior years.The report documents how term and forward markets initially priced in a meaningful year-end premium, particularly in the euro government repo market, reflecting concerns over limited dealer balance sheet capacity and competing demands from equity financing. However, as December progressed, these pressures eased. Ample liquidity, early prefunding by market participants, evolving bond market positioning, and the availability of central bank facilities all contributed to a relatively orderly turn, with only brief and contained volatility observed in the final days of the year.While the analysis also covers repo market developments in GBP, USD, and JPY, the European experience remains central. A key conclusion is that balance sheet availability, rather than pure cash or collateral scarcity, continues to be the dominant and least predictable driver of year-end dynamics, a theme with important implications as markets move deeper into a post-QE environment.The full report is available to download, and ICMA welcomes engagement from members and market participants on the findings and their implications for future repo market functioning.

20 January 2026 The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) today publishes a new paper examining whether stablecoins represent a credible development for capital markets infrastructure, or a diversion from more established solutions.The paper places recent growth in stablecoins in context, noting their rapid expansion alongside accelerating regulatory attention across major jurisdictions. While definitions and supervisory approaches differ, regulators are increasingly converging around core principles on reserves, redemption, safeguarding, and the prohibition of interest, with fragmentation remaining a central systemic risk.From a capital markets perspective, the analysis focuses on the practical role of fiat-backed stablecoins as potential on-chain settlement assets, alongside wholesale CBDCs and tokenised bank liabilities.The paper assesses where stablecoins may offer advantages, particularly in enabling programmable, 24/7 settlement and liquidity outside traditional cycles, while also highlighting material constraints.These include regulatory limits on volumes and use cases, the absence of credit and interest, custody and technology risks, and operational costs linked to public blockchains.Drawing on recent market initiatives and ICMA-led work under Project Guardian, the paper concludes that while stablecoins are unlikely to be a universal solution, they could play a complementary role in future market infrastructure if regulatory clarity improves and cross-border alignment deepens.The paper is intended to inform ongoing discussions among issuers, intermediaries, investors, and policymakers on the evolution of digital settlement in capital markets.Download the paper here.

15 January 2026 The latest edition of the ICMA Quarterly Report is now available.To access the report, click here.