The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has partnered with Tokenovate to launch a dedicated task force under the Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS) to fast-track the practical deployment of the Common Domain Model (CDM) across the derivatives market. The initiative has been positioned as a response to rising industry demand for standardized and interoperable post-trade processes, and seeks to produce an open-source, deployment-ready catalog of CDM functions and workflows, with unrestricted access for market participants.
Tokenovate was established in 2022 by Richard Baker and Gerard Banaszkiewicz with the objective of automating post-trade processes within capital markets. In recent years, developments such as the FINOS Common Domain Model and innovations in blockchain technology have significantly transformed derivatives trading. Observing these shifts, Baker and Banaszkiewicz re-engaged in 2021, identifying an opportunity to improve operational efficiency in the derivatives market, which ultimately led to the creation of Tokenovate.
The task force is initially focusing on automating interest-rate resets, aligning with the ISDA Interest Rate Derivatives Definitions published in 2021. ISDA has noted that this operational activity supports an enormous universe of financial contracts and remains heavily dependent on manual practices that vary across institutions. The transition away from interbank offered rates in favor of risk-free benchmarks has intensified this complexity, as these newer rate structures require daily observations, multi-step adjustments for business days, and precisely defined compounding rules.
ISDA has characterized automation of these activities via the CDM as a pivotal shift toward real-time programmable post-trade infrastructure at global market scale.
From Standardization to Executable Logic
The new work stream is being developed in line with principles documented in ISDA’s whitepaper on smart derivatives contracts. Its purpose is to embed ISDA’s legal and operational standards directly into the CDM in a form that can execute deterministically. While the CDM currently provides a canonical representation of contractual elements—including standardized product attributes, calculation rules, and event structures—the smart contract layer adds a further abstraction capable of executing those rules automatically.
ISDA and Tokenovate have launched a new taskforce within @FINOSFoundation to accelerate operationalization of the Common Domain Model (CDM). Click here to read the full release: https://t.co/zNeuceooAG pic.twitter.com/CQifoIJidZ
— ISDA (@ISDA) October 21, 2025
Tokenovate and ISDA are constructing this logic layer inside the CDM so as to eliminate interpretation gaps and reduce reconciliation inefficiencies. The approach is designed to function independently of specific underlying technologies or platforms, ensuring that firms can plug into the standard regardless of existing infrastructure. By making execution auditable and deterministic, the group intends to enhance interoperability not only across traditional systems but also with digital settlement primitives, tokenized instruments, and algorithmic or AI-assisted post-trade tooling.
Operationalizing Standards Across the Market
In remarks issued with the announcement, ISDA’s digital transformation leadership conveyed that the organization views this move as a decisive stride toward fully digital and interoperable post-trade workflows. The association emphasized that incorporating the CDM into executable smart logic would convert documented standards into operational artifacts capable of supporting real-time automation while reducing friction in global derivatives trading.
Tokenovate’s product leadership added that the joint effort signaled a shift from conceptual engineering to tangible deployment. The firm said that embedding ISDA’s legal and operational templates directly into code would create an industry-wide foundation for automation, interoperability, and future innovation. The commentary framed the initiative as the progression of a multi-year evolution—moving beyond theoretical frameworks toward production-grade implementation at scale.
The taskforce, operating within an open-source governance structure, is expected to deliver an accessible codebase that could become a reference point for the derivatives industry’s transition into fully digital post-trade operations.
