Template:Isda Preamble comp
It all starts here. Everyone, once, stares at that gnomic title and thinks, “okay, what the hell is this all about?” Step this way, young padawan. Step into this rabbithole.
Little material difference between the 1992 ISDA and the 2002 ISDA here, and indeed, not much from the 1987 ISDA.
A word on industry associations
Those with a keen eye will note that, some time between 1992 and 2002, ISDA rebranded from the “International Swap Dealers Associations, Inc.” — interesting plural, that, but in any case an outwardly sell-side outfit — to the more neutral-sounding “International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc.” singular, at the same time more unitary and more inclusive by name, but still in spirit the same old outfit, stakeheld predominantly by the 20 largest broker-dealers on the face of the Earth. It may have aspirations to conquer the world but for now ISDA remains a “dealer-community” association.
These days the “buy-side lobby” is a lot bigger, more organised and better represented than it used to be, with AIMA (the Alternative Investment Management Association),[1] EFAMA (the European Fund and Asset Management Association,[2] the MFA (the Managed Funds Association),[3] (not to be confused, by the way, with the Fund Management Association of Kenya) and the IA (the Investment Association),[4] representing their interests.