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A fundamental principle of derivatives trading is that, by entering a Transaction, you forever change your exposure from not having the risk to having the risk. What that risk may be at any moment, before it has crystallised into a payment one way or another, may be hard to know. It is the nature of financial exposures that change in unpredictable and maddening ways. But once you have traded a position, the risk of the position may change, but the fact that you have the risk does not.

This might seem trite, but it is often misunderstood, especially when further down the line, something prevents settlement.

A derivative position seems a rather nebulous thing in the abstract. Before it expires, it does not feel as if the world has changed. In the same way, until the roulette ball has settled its slot, it feels as if a bet placed upon it should be cancellable: this is all very hypothetical, no-one has changed their position in reliance on a still-spinning wheel, yet, so why should a punter not be allowed to back out of the wager, and keep her stake?

This is not how casinos see it, of course. Nor do swaps dealers.

This is quite