NEW YORK, Tuesday, April 12, 2011 – A record level of attendance – over 900 delegates – is expected this week as over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives industry gathers in Prague for ISDA’s 26th Annual General Meeting. The high turnout at this pre-eminent annual event demonstrates the Association’s global scope, the active participation of its member firms and the significant level of activity underway as part of the Association’s mission: safe, efficient OTC derivatives markets.

“From clearing to portfolio compression, from transparency to trading infrastructure, ISDA and our members are working to reshape and strengthen the OTC derivatives markets,” said Conrad Voldstad, ISDA’s Chief Executive Officer. “The expertise and knowledge of our global membership is essential to the success of these efforts and we continue to be gratified by their strong support of our mission and key initiatives.”

In the past several years, ISDA and the industry have made substantial progress in a number of key areas, including:

Increasing standardization of processes and products to encourage greater automation across all aspects of the business;
Reducing counterparty credit risk through both greater use of central clearing and enhanced bilateral risk management. Today, more than 40 percent of the global interest rate swaps market is cleared. Clearing and portfolio compression have reduced credit default swaps notional outstanding by 75 percent;
Increasing transparency through trade repositories for various OTC derivatives asset classes.

“The demand for OTC derivatives remains strong, as more firms in more industries in more countries look to better manage financial risks inherent in their businesses,” said Robert Pickel, Executive Vice Chairman, ISDA. “ISDA and our members are actively at work to further strengthen the framework for OTC derivatives activity as it further expands across asset classes, market segments and geographic borders.”

AGM 2011 will feature panel sessions on:

The Evolving Regulatory Framework for OTC Derivatives: Progress to Date and the Path Ahead
Transparency, Liquidity and the Drive to Build Safe, Efficient Markets
OTC Derivative Clearing: Implementation and Challenges
Global derivatives business issues

Keynote addresses will be delivered by:

Steven Maijoor, Chair, European Securities and Markets Authority
Urs Rohner, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Credit Suisse Group
Jean Pierre Mustier, Head of Corporate and Investment Banking, UniCredit Group

A full agenda of AGM 2011 is available at http://www.isda.org/conf/AGM2011/agm2011agenda.html.

 For More Information, Please Contact:
Cesaltine Gregorio, ISDA Prague AGM office, +420 224 84 8302, cgregorio@isda.org
Donna Chan, ISDA Prague AGM office, +420 224 84 8302, dchan@isda.org
Rebecca O’Neill, ISDA London, +44 203 088 3586, roneill@isda.org

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 over 800 member institutions from 55 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. 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 and Derivatives Association, Inc.