ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association)

The global trade association of the over-the-counter derivatives market participants, including corporations, investment managers, government and supranational entities, insurance companies, energy and commodities firms, and international and regional banks, exchanges, clearing houses and repositories, as well as law firms, accounting firms and other service providers.

ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) is a global trade association of over 800 participants in the over-the-counter derivatives markets, including corporations, investment managers, government and supranational entities, insurance companies, energy and commodities firms, and international and regional banks, exchanges, clearing houses and repositories, as well as law firms, accounting firms and other service providers.
ISDA’s mission is to ‚Äúmake over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets safe and efficient‚Äù. Created in 1985, ISDA has provided the industry with standardised documentation and secure and efficient infrastructure,¬†facilitating effective risk management for all users of derivative products.
In 1992, ISDA came up with the first version of the ISDA Master Agreement and other related documents, which is essentially a standardised contract for derivatives transactions aimed at mitigate credit and legal risk. The ISDA Master Agreement substituted those in-house forms that differed from company to company that lacked of uniformity and became time-consuming for its participants.