Overview

Within Docs, any active Broker party may initiate new give-up agreements, as well as any Customer or Trader party that pays for the storage feature. A user must have 'Agreement Initiator' permission in order to perform these actions. If all required information is completed, users with the Legal Language Composer and/or Rates Composer permissions also have the option to approve these workstreams on initiation.

Legal Language Workstream:

• Input Jurisdiction
• Selection of Saved Template Language (if applicable)
• Selection to send Legal Language Workstream for approval (and Approve, if permissioned for this)

Rate Schedule Workstream:

• Selection of Rate Schedule(s) from the Library
• Selection of Bill to Party (Defaults to Clearing Broker)
• Addition of Profit Center (if internal reference is required)
• Selection of Executing Account(s) or "TBA"

Initiating an Agreement

To initiate a give up agreement in Docs, go to Docs> Documents> Initiate:

In the 'Create New Document' page, select 'Give Up Agreement (GUA)'

Next, select an agreement template from the dropdown menu. There are multiple give up agreement templates available in Docs. Agreement templates can be reviewed at FIA's Agreement Library, accessible here, or at the link in the footer in Docs.

For this example, we chose the STDC (Standard Customer Agreement), which requires a Customer, a Clearing Broker and an Executing Broker.

Adding Agreement Parties and Dates

To add a party to the agreement, enter the name of each entity in the field corresponding to their role. Docs will provide a dropdown of the matching entities once you have started to enter the name of a party. You can also use the A-Z icon to open the party search interstitial. For information on initiating multiple agreements at once, please see the Bulk Agreement Initiation article.

If the party name does not already exist, include the name exactly as it needs to be listed and continue to initiate the agreement. Once the agreement has initiated, a warning will pop-up if the party name cannot be found. Continuing to initiate the agreement will trigger a Party Not Found or Visibility Request. For more information, please see our article on Party Not Found/Visibility Requests.

If additional party roles are needed, select the '+Add Party' link and then select the additional party role and party name.

Underneath the Parties section is an optional 'Agreement Dates' section. If the agreement requires a set Effective or Termination Date, select those dates by clicking on the calendar icon. These dates can be updated once the agreement is in the Composition state

If no dates are set, the Effective Date will become the date the agreement is fully Executed. The Termination Date will fill in when the agreement is either manually terminated, or terminated as a result of an Amendment being fully executed. See more details about Amendments here: Editing Executed Agreements in Docs 

Advanced Agreement Details

Once all parties to the agreement are set, the Legal Language and Add Rate Schedule sections will expand if the Agreement Initiator has Legal Language Composer and/or Rate Schedule Composter permission(s). 

• In the Legal Language section, the Jurisdiction may be added, and any saved, custom legal templates may be selected.
• Additionally, the check-box next to "Approve Legal Language Workstream on Initiation" can also be selected to automatically send the Legal Language Workstream for approval to all parties on the agreement, as well as to approve this workstream for the initiating party. 

• In the Add Rate Schedule section, any rate schedule(s) saved in the the Library may be selected; the option to change the Bill to Party, which defaults to Clearing Broker, may be updated; a Profit Center may be entered if an internal reference is required; and the selection of Executing Account(s) or "TBA" can be made. 

If everything is entered as desired, select the green 'Initiate Agreement' button on the bottom right of the page. (Note: 'Save Draft' is also an option.)

The agreement will now move from the 'Initiation' state to the 'Composition' state. 

Composing the Agreement Workstreams

The three main workstreams in a give up agreement are Legal Language, Rate Schedule and Clearing Accounts. If the Legal Language and Rate Schedule Workstreams were not set up in the Agreement Initiation process, they can be set up in the Composition state.

Each workstream must be composed before it can be approved by all parties on the agreement. Workstreams can be composed by any user with 'Composer' permission by selecting the pencil tool/edit icon to the right of the workstream.  

Legal Language Workstream

Any user from a party listed on an agreement with 'Legal Language Composer' permission can compose the Legal Language workstream. The only thing required to be added to the Legal Language workstream is the Jurisdiction. This is the state, country or region that governs the legality of the agreement. It will fill in as you start typing. 

There is an option of adding 'Supplemental Documentation' in a PDF format, such as additional signature pages or translation documents, etc. if needed. 

Each paragraph of the template will be broken down by section under 'Legal Terms'. Paragraphs can be modified if necessary, in the column on the right. Anything added will show in bold and anything deleted with show as a strike through on the final document. If changes are made to any paragraph, it will show how many paragraphs are modified at the top of the Legal Language section.

Once the Legal Language workstream is complete, select the green 'Send for Approval' button. Other options include 'Save & Close' and 'Discard & Close'. 

If 'Send for Approval' is selected, users of the conformed parties on the agreement with workstream approval permission, including the initiating party, will be able to either Approve or Reject the workstream. 

Rate Schedule Workstream

The Rate Schedule workstream can be composed by any user with 'Rate Schedule Composer' permission. This workstream contains four main sections, of which only three are used on most agreements. Those three are in bold below. 

• Billing - This shows the 'Bill to' party, which defaults to 'Clearing Broker', but can be changed. There is also a blank space for 'Profit Center', which is optional and may be left blank. 
• Electronic Rate Schedules - This is the industry preferred type of rate schedule and includes either a rate schedule that was built in the Rate Schedule Library in Docs, or an eModule (a macro enabled Excel document). It can be added by selecting 'Search Library' if created in Docs, or 'Choose File', if created as an eModule. See more about building a rate schedule in Docs in this link: Rate Schedule Creation in Docs
• Waiver - This would only be used if rates cannot be expressed in an electronic format and a PDF rate schedule needs to be uploaded. Waivers have to be approved by FIA Tech before a PDF rate schedule can be added to an agreement. Note: Having only a PDF rate schedule on an agreement will result in additional upcharges to all conformed parties on the agreement. 
• Executing Accounts - All rate schedules attached to an agreement must have an associated Executing Account. If no specific account has been identified, firms would need to select the 'TBA' checkbox. 

Once the Rate Schedule workstream is complete, select the green 'Send for Approval' button. Other options include 'Save & Close' and 'Discard & Close'. 

If 'Send for Approval' is selected, a user with each of the conformed parties on the agreement with workstream approval permission, including the initiating party, will be able to either Approve or Reject the workstream. 

Clearing Accounts Workstream

The Clearing Accounts workstream is typically completed by the Clearing Broker on the agreement, but the any party to the agreement can compose this workstream as long as they have 'Clearing Account Composer' permission. Clearing accounts can be selected from the existing 'Available Clearing Accounts' shown in this section, or by 'Add New Clearing Account'. 

If a description is needed, it can be added. Effective and Expiration dates are also available in the Clearing Account section, but can be left blank, unless necessary. Note that at least one clearing account must be valid for the life of the agreement. More information about clearing accounts can be found in the following article: Managing Clearing Accounts on Agreements in Docs

Once the Clearing Accounts workstream is complete, select the green 'Send for Approval' button. Other options include 'Save & Close' and 'Discard & Close'. 

If 'Send for Approval' is selected, a user with each of the conformed parties on the agreement with workstream approval permission, including the initiating party, will be able to either Approve or Reject the workstream. 

Approvals

Once all workstreams have been composed and sent for approval, all parties on the agreement will need to approve each workstream. When a workstream is approved, it will show as a green check mark in the 'Party Matrix' section next to each party name and under each workstream. These do not have to be approved in any order by any particular party. 

When all three workstreams have been approved by all parties on the agreement, the agreement will move into the 'Execution' state and an 'Execution Phase Approver' for each party on the agreement will be able to fully execute the agreement by selecting 'Approve Agreement'. ('Reject Agreement' is also an option and will require a reason for rejection and will remove all other Execution Phase approvals.)

Once fully executed by all parties, the Agreement Status will show as below.