The Bond Market Association (BMA) has published a draft version of its global commercial paper agreement intended to harmonise US and European standards.

BMA hopes the new agreement, based on the existing US and European models, will become the industry standard documentation in the short-term debt market. Industry leaders have been working on a standardised model for the multi-billion dollar commercial paper market for some time. The Model Global Commercial Paper Dealer Agreement is designed to document arrangements between issuers and dealers covering programmes where commercial paper may be issued in both the US and European markets.