ISDA has published its latest margin survey, which shows a steep increase in the amount of initial margin (IM) collected by the largest market participants for their non-cleared derivatives trades.
According to the survey, the 20 largest dealers – those that had to comply with phase one of the regulatory IM requirements from September 2016 – collected $286.0 billion of IM on their non-cleared derivatives at the end of 2021, up 38% from the $207.3 billion collected at the end of 2020. Of the total IM received, $203.5 billion was required under global margin regulations, a 57.5% increase versus 2020. A further $82.5 billion was collected from counterparties and/or for transactions not currently in scope of the margin rules, including legacy transactions.
Phase-one firms also collected $936.5 billion in variation margin (VM) at the end of 2021, a 19.6% decrease from the $1.2 trillion collected at year-end 2020. This includes $527.9 billion of VM as part of regulatory margin requirements and $408.7 billion collected on a discretionary basis. The survey attributes the decline in VM to lower volatility in 2021 versus 2020, when the coronavirus crisis resulted in large asset price movements.
The ISDA margin survey also analyzes IM posted by all market participants to major central counterparties (CCPs) for cleared interest rate derivatives and credit default swap (CDS) transactions. Total IM was $323.4 billion at the end of 2021, a drop of 2.2% from $330.6 billion posted a year earlier. Of that amount, $262.4 billion of IM was delivered to CCPs for cleared interest rate derivatives and $61.1 billion of IM was posted for cleared CDS.
Thirty-two institutions contributed to this year’s margin survey, including all 20 phase-one entities, five of the six phase-two firms, and seven of the eight phase-three entities. ISDA also used publicly available margin data on cleared derivatives from two US CCPs, four European CCPs and two Asian CCPs.
Read the survey here.
For Press Queries, Please Contact:
Nick Sawyer, ISDA London, +44 20 3808 9740, nsawyer@isda.org
Lauren Springer, ISDA New York, +1 212 901 6019, ldobbs@isda.org
Joel Clark, ISDA London, +44 20 3808 9760, jclark@isda.org
Christopher Faimali, ISDA London, +44 20 3808 9736, cfaimali@isda.org
Nikki Lu, ISDA Hong Kong, +852 2200 5901, nlu@isda.org
Documents (1) for Initial Margin Collected by Top 20 Firms Up by 38% in 2021, ISDA Margin Survey Finds
Latest
Key Trends in OTC Derivatives Market H2 2025
The latest data from the Bank for International Settlements over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives statistics shows an increase in notional outstanding of OTC derivatives during the second half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Notional outstanding rose across all...
ISDA-SIFMA letter to SEC on Swap Dealer Thresholds
ISDA and SIFMA have submitted a comment letter to the SEC in response to the staff report on the definitions of “security-based swap dealer” and “major security-based swap participant.” The associations recommend maintaining the current de minimis thresholds for both...
ISDA responds to RBI consultation on SA-CCR
On July 1, ISDA responded to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) consultation on draft amendment directions on the standardized approach for counterparty credit risk (SA-CCR). ISDA broadly welcomes the RBI's move to SA-CCR and updated capital treatment for exposures...
Data Subject Access Request Form
Pursuant to its mission to promote safe and efficient markets within the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives industry, The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) processes personal data of its employees, members and non-members (for example individuals attending ISDA conferences or...