ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines first of all International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA's) genesis and key activities, which have included embedding over-the-counter (OTC) derivative industry norms within public legislative and regulatory processes, with considerable success. It examines the character of, and the reasons for, certain gaps in public regulatory initiatives with respect to the orderly resolution of cross-border systemically significant institutions following the global financial crisis (GFC). It quickly became clear at the outbreak of the GFC, and illustrated most starkly in the case of Lehman Brothers, that placement of a large, complex and interconnected financial institution into bankruptcy could have the capacity to seriously exacerbate systemic stress. ISDA had been formally approached by financial regulators of the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, Switzerland and the United States (US) by way of a joint letter in 2013. ISDA was officially founded in the mid-1980s, at a time when new OTC derivative products and pricing models were emerging.
