2021 ISDA Interest Rate Derivatives Definitions

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ISDA Anatomy™

From our machine overlords

Here is what, NiGEL, our cheeky little GPT3 chatbot had to say when asked to explain:
The 2021 ISDA Interest Rate Derivatives Definitions were published on June 11, 2021 in wholly digital form, and are designed to ensure ISDA’s ability to corner the market and extract rent from its documentation — sorry, did I say that or was I thinking it? I mean of course content — keeps pace with changes in market practice, regulation, and technology. They replace the 2006 ISDA Definitions as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom on cleared and non-cleared interest rate derivatives as, especially following the LIBOR farrago, the latter had become totally unwieldy with upwards of 20 supplements. The new ones are digital, preternaturally supplemented and updated — I know, right? Can’t you just see moribund risk terms loving that — and much harder for skinflints to rip off, or community-minded windbags to helpfully, but sardonically, summarise and analyse in wiki format.

The 2021s introduce various methods of cash settlement — I0146m sure you’ve been holding out for a smorgasbord of those — and require the Calculation Agent now to use commercially reasonable procedures to produce a commercially reasonable result — a change, if it is a change, that we applaud, but wonder — or would wonder, if chatbots could wonder — whether, since that reasonableness has been embedded into the ISDA construct for some decades now, this is much of a change.


Disclaimer: NiGEL’s a neural network, he drinks a lot, and he spends too much time on the internet, so if you listen to anything he has to say you only have yourself to blame.

Come to think of it, that is also true of the JC in general.

Index: Click to expand:Navigation
See ISDA Comparison for a comparison between the 1992 ISDA and the 2002 ISDA.
The Varieties of ISDA Experience
Subject 2002 (wikitext) 1992 (wikitext) 1987 (wikitext)
Preamble Pre Pre Pre
Interpretation 1 1 1
Obligns/Payment 2 2 2
Representations 3 3 3
Agreements 4 4 4
EODs & Term Events 5 Events of Default: FTPDBreachCSDMisrepDUSTCross DefaultBankruptcyMWA Termination Events: IllegalityFMTax EventTEUMCEUMATE 5 Events of Default: FTPDBreachCSDMisrepDUSTCross DefaultBankruptcyMWA Termination Events: IllegalityTax EventTEUMCEUMATE 5 Events of Default: FTPDBreachCSDMisrepDUSSCross DefaultBankruptcyMWA Termination Events: IllegalityTax EventTEUMCEUM
Early Termination 6 Early Termination: ET right on EODET right on TEEffect of DesignationCalculations; Payment DatePayments on ETSet-off 6 Early Termination: ET right on EODET right on TEEffect of DesignationCalculationsPayments on ETSet-off 6 Early Termination: ET right on EODET right on TEEffect of DesignationCalculationsPayments on ET
Transfer 7 7 7
Contractual Currency 8 8 8
Miscellaneous 9 9 9
Offices; Multibranch Parties 10 10 10
Expenses 11 11 11
Notices 12 12 12
Governing Law 13 13 13
Definitions 14 14 14
Schedule Schedule Schedule Schedule
Termination Provisions Part 1 Part 1 Part 1
Tax Representations Part 2 Part 2 Part 2
Documents for Delivery Part 3 Part 3 Part 3
Miscellaneous Part 4 Part 4 Part 4
Other Provisions Part 5 Part 5 Part 5

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The successor to the storied, oft-cited 2006 ISDA Definitions,

See also