Over the past decade, significant regulatory reforms have been implemented in order to make derivatives markets safer and more robust. A major test of these reforms came in the first half of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global financial markets and central banks intervened to provide much-needed liquidity.
While derivatives experienced volatility and liquidity pressures in line with cash markets, they continued to function without any major issues or dislocations reported by policy-makers or market participants.
The performance of derivatives markets during the pandemic reflects important changes and a significant reduction in counterparty credit risk over the past decade. As a result of the financial regulatory reforms, derivatives markets have become safer, more resilient and more transparent.
Documents (1) for Evolution of OTC Derivatives Markets Since the Financial Crisis
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ISDA In Review – August 2026
A compendium of links to new documents, research papers, press releases and comment letters published by ISDA in August 2026.
Remove Bureaucracy from Cross-margin Approvals
Cross-margining programs play a critical role in financial markets. By ensuring margin requirements more closely reflect the actual risk of a portfolio of products, they reduce liquidity strain and improve market efficiency, both of which will become even more important...
Joint Response on CCP Resolution
On September 7, ISDA and FIA responded to a Bank of England (BOE) discussion paper on central counterparty (CCP) resolution. The associations support greater clarity on valuation capabilities prior to a crisis scenario and the boundary between recovery and resolution,...
Expanding Legal Agreement Coverage in the CDM
This paper examines the recent extension of the Common Domain Model (CDM)1 to represent two of the most significant, and previously undeveloped, areas of its legal agreement model: umbrella agreements and contract amendments. Umbrella agreements are widely used to document...