The PFMI are an international standard that authorities in each jurisdiction build into their own legal and regulatory framework and apply to financial market infrastructures. Published in April 2012, they harmonized and, where appropriate, strengthened the three earlier international standards for payment systems, securities settlement systems, and central counterparties.
The principles include additional guidance for central counterparties that clear over-the-counter derivatives and for trade repositories. A companion document, the disclosure framework and assessment methodology, sets out how institutions disclose information and how their observance of the principles is assessed.