ISDA®
INTERNATIONAL SWAPS AND DERIVATIVES
ASSOCIATION, INC.
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release, Wednesday, October
22, 2008
For More
Information, Please Contact:
Louise
Marshall, ISDA New York, +1 212-901-6014, lmarshall@isda.org
Cesaltine
Gregorio, ISDA New York, +1 212-901-6019, cgregorio@isda.org
Donna Chan,
ISDA Hong Kong, +852 2200 5906, dchan@isda.org
ISDA CHAIRMAN COMMENTS ON EU FINANCIAL
SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING
"The
European Commission has convened an industry working group to review
operational matters in the wholesale derivatives industry. Today's discussion
was open and constructive in tone. Participants are reviewing progress in
operational efficiencies and will seek to examine the exact nature and extent
of challenges the markets are facing in ensuring operational and systemic
security, as well as where further progress might be needed. The first priority
of this working group is planning for a centralized clearing counterparty, with
a medium term goal of reviewing market transparency.
ISDA is
working with a coalition of trade associations on these issues. We look forward
to working with the Commission to meet any goals that will continue to improve
operational efficiency and promote legal certainty. To that end, we will
continue to advocate an EU Directive on netting to reinforce the bilateral
close-out netting regime in
About ISDA
ISDA, which represents participants in the privately
negotiated derivatives industry, is among the world’s largest global financial
trade associations as measured by number of member firms. ISDA was chartered in
1985, and today has approximately 850 member institutions from 56 countries on
six continents. These members include most of the world’s major institutions
that deal in privately negotiated derivatives, as well as many of the
businesses, governmental entities and other end users that rely on
over-the-counter derivatives to manage efficiently the financial market risks
inherent in their core economic activities.
Over the past 25 years, ISDA and the privately negotiated derivatives business have developed a robust, resilient industry framework and infrastructure. ISDA’s primary purpose is to encourage the prudent and efficient development of this business via the continued standardization of documentation, promotion of sound risk management practices and education of the marketplace. The Association’s collective efforts to identify and reduce the sources of risk in the privately negotiated derivatives business drove the creation of the ISDA Master Agreement, supporting documentation architecture, netting agreements, collateral agreements and other risk-reduction and risk-mitigation tools. These tools enable and provide the legal certainty for counterparties to net down their exposures to a single economic position and to further manage that position through the use of collateral.
Information about ISDA and its activities is available
on the Association's web site: www.isda.org.
®ISDA is a registered trademark of the International Swaps &
Derivatives Association, Inc.