ISDA Documentation

Before two entities can trade on AEX, both must confirm that their ISDA documentation is in place. This bilateral requirement ensures that every fill occurs under a valid legal agreement.

What ISDA documentation status means

ISDA documentation status records whether a signed ISDA Master Agreement (or equivalent bilateral trading agreement) exists between your entity and a specific counterparty. AEX does not store the documents themselves — it records the status that your credit officers have confirmed.

The status is per-counterparty and independently set by each entity. Both sides must independently confirm that their documentation is in place before the market engine will allow fills between them.

Documentation statuses

Status	Meaning
docs_in_place	ISDA agreement is signed and in effect
pending	Documentation is in progress but not yet finalised
no_docs	No documentation is in place

If no status has been explicitly set for a counterparty relationship, the system treats it as no_docs.

Bilateral requirement

The documentation check is bilateral — both sides must have docs_in_place for fills to be permitted:

Your status	Their status	Trading allowed?
docs_in_place	docs_in_place	Yes
docs_in_place	pending	No
docs_in_place	no_docs	No
pending	docs_in_place	No
no_docs	docs_in_place	No

If documentation is actively managed (i.e. at least one side has explicitly set a status), any non-docs_in_place bilateral status blocks trading. Orders between the entities will be rejected at the credit check stage with a documentation failure reason.

danger

Trading between two entities is blocked until both sides have independently set their status to docs_in_place. Setting your own status does not enable trading — your counterparty must also confirm theirs.

Where documentation status is managed

Credit panel (Documentation Status section)

Documentation status appears in the Credit panel under Management Panel → Credit, in the Documentation Status section.

Each counterparty row shows a traffic light indicator:

• Green — docs_in_place
• Amber — pending
• Red — no_docs

Users with Docs.Manage permission can click a traffic light circle to switch the status immediately for that counterparty.

Full edit dialog

For detailed edits — including adding notes about the documentation — click the pencil icon on a counterparty row to open the Documentation Edit dialog. This allows you to:

• Set the status (docs_in_place, pending, or no_docs)
• Add optional notes (e.g. agreement reference number, effective date)

Changes take effect immediately on save.

Credit panel grouping

The Credit panel's Credit Limits section groups counterparties by documentation status:

• Counterparties with docs_in_place appear in the main list
• Counterparties without documentation appear collapsed under Counterparties without Docs

This makes it easy to see at a glance which relationships are trade-ready.

Permissions

Action	Required permission
View documentation status	Docs.View
Change documentation status	Docs.Manage

Impact on trading

When the market engine processes a potential fill, it checks bilateral documentation status as part of the credit validation flow. If documentation is not in place on either side, the order is rejected before credit limits are even evaluated. The rejection message identifies documentation as the cause.

note

Documentation status only affects fill processing when at least one side has explicitly set a status. If neither entity has set any status, the documentation check is skipped. Once you set any status for a counterparty, the bilateral check is enforced.

Next steps

• Credit System — credit limit types, bilateral checking, and the Credit panel
• Credit Approval Workflow — how credit limit change requests are reviewed