STEP
The Short Term European Paper (STEP) initiative aims to foster the integration of the European markets for short term paper through the convergence of market standards and practices. The ACI The Financial Markets Association (ACI) and the European Banking Federation (Fédération Bancaire Européenne) are the main promoters of the STEP initiative.
STEP relies on STEP Market Convention. The STEP Market Convention lays down the criteria which short-term paper programmes must fulfil to be STEP compliant and the procedures for granting and withdrawing the STEP label. The STEP criteria and requirements relate to the disclosure of information, the format for documentation, settlement, and the provision of data for the production of STEP statistics. A STEP label does not relate to the creditworthiness of issuers or the accuracy of the information provided. In order to obtain and maintain the STEP label for a short term paper programme, the issuer, the features of the programme and the Notes issued under the programme must comply with the requirements of the Convention, including its Annexes.
For more see www.stepmarket.org which provided us with this definition.