<xsd:element name="intermediary" type="AgentRef" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="2"/> <xsd:complexType name="AgentRef"> <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element name="addressUsageDom" type="DomainRef" minOccurs="0"/> <xsd:element name="isMessageToSend" type="xsd:boolean" minOccurs="0"/> <xsd:element name="account" type="LegalEntityAccount" minOccurs="0"/> <xsd:element name="businessEntityRole" type="BusinessEntityRole" minOccurs="0"/> <xsd:element name="isdSSIAddress" type="ISDSSIAddress" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/> <xsd:element name="tradeCounterparty" type="BusinessEntityRef" minOccurs="0"/> </xsd:sequence> </xsd:complexType> The element name 'intermediary' is responsible for Xerces generating the above error. The schema ISD_SSI_Common.xsd, which contains the above syntax, has no namespace and includes another schema, which also has no namespace. In turn, subsystem level schemas, which have a unique namespace, reference ISD_SSI_Common using the include statement. These subsystem schemas are then referenced by message level schemas, which have an identical namespace to the subsystem schema they are referencing. Again the include statement is used N.B. If I change the maxOccurs value mentioned to 'unbounded', the error is not generated.