The Atlantis Variation: Difference between revisions
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The [[2008 ISDA Master Agreement]], also known as the “[[Atlantis agreement]]”, is a rumoured edition of the {{isdama}}, which, according to legend, was ''almost'' completed in September 2008, but never saw the light of day | The [[2008 ISDA Master Agreement]], also known as the “[[Atlantis agreement]]”, is a rumoured edition of the {{isdama}}, which, according to legend, was ''almost'' completed in September 2008, but never saw the light of day. Instead it collapsed into a form of dark energy that powers the universe. If implemented, the [[2008 ISDA Master Agreement]] would have addressed the financial, infrastructural and regulatory challenges which dominated the derivatives trading market in the early 21st century. It would have consolidated trading documentation across a wide range of products ([[including but not limited to]] [[repo]], [[stock lending]], [[prime brokerage]], [[exchange traded derivatives]], [[commodities]] and [[emissions]], in so finally doing moving the financial world into a stable state: a [[sunlit utopia]] in which all risks are known, all eventualities experienced and contingencies accounted for. The form of [[2008 ISDA Master Agreement]] would be a short, plainly worded, preternaturally future-proofed, agile agreement allowing counterparties to agree trading terms with a minimum of fuss and no more than the cursory forensic management that could be garnered cheaply through unskilled personel in low-cost off-shore jurisdictions or, eventually, robots. | ||
====What | ====What happened?==== | ||
As it was, the challenge was just too big. The project expanded — at first gradually; in the closing stages at breakneck pace — and in the final days is believed to have exceeded its [[Schwarzschild radius of document comprehension|Schwarzschild radius]] altogether. There was a sudden, catastrophic implosion, and everything associated with the project — all traces of the agreement, earlier drafts, the firm {{ISDA}} engaged to coordinate the drafting (Messrs [[Tubb Fuller Breaden Potter Bacon]])<ref>[[TFBPB]] has never been heard of since, and curiously, no record now exists of this firm before 2008, even though it was apparently a global bemoth</ref> and several thousand members of ISDA’s document working group seconded by their employers to contributing their “clarifications” and doubt-avoidances for the greater good of the standard form. All — the document, the personnel, and the drafting tedia — have been lost to history, and we now do not know what the agreement said, how it said it, or indeed whether the agreement really existed at all. And the robots — | As it was, the challenge was just too big. The project expanded — at first gradually; in the closing stages at breakneck pace — and in the final days is believed to have exceeded its [[Schwarzschild radius of document comprehension|Schwarzschild radius]] altogether. There was a sudden, catastrophic implosion, and everything associated with the project — all traces of the agreement, earlier drafts, the firm {{ISDA}} engaged to coordinate the drafting (Messrs [[Tubb Fuller Breaden Potter Bacon]])<ref>[[TFBPB]] has never been heard of since, and curiously, no record now exists of this firm before 2008, even though it was apparently a global bemoth</ref> and several thousand members of ISDA’s document working group seconded by their employers to contributing their “clarifications” and doubt-avoidances for the greater good of the standard form. All — the document, the personnel, and the drafting tedia — have been lost to history, and we now do not know what the agreement said, how it said it, or indeed whether the agreement really existed at all. And the robots — | ||
===The shoulders of Orion 2006-1 CDO=== | ===The shoulders of Orion 2006-1 CDO=== | ||
Revision as of 08:28, 10 May 2017
The 2008 ISDA Master Agreement, also known as the “Atlantis agreement”, is a rumoured edition of the ISDA Master Agreement, which, according to legend, was almost completed in September 2008, but never saw the light of day. Instead it collapsed into a form of dark energy that powers the universe. If implemented, the 2008 ISDA Master Agreement would have addressed the financial, infrastructural and regulatory challenges which dominated the derivatives trading market in the early 21st century. It would have consolidated trading documentation across a wide range of products (including but not limited to repo, stock lending, prime brokerage, exchange traded derivatives, commodities and emissions, in so finally doing moving the financial world into a stable state: a sunlit utopia in which all risks are known, all eventualities experienced and contingencies accounted for. The form of 2008 ISDA Master Agreement would be a short, plainly worded, preternaturally future-proofed, agile agreement allowing counterparties to agree trading terms with a minimum of fuss and no more than the cursory forensic management that could be garnered cheaply through unskilled personel in low-cost off-shore jurisdictions or, eventually, robots.
What happened?
As it was, the challenge was just too big. The project expanded — at first gradually; in the closing stages at breakneck pace — and in the final days is believed to have exceeded its Schwarzschild radius altogether. There was a sudden, catastrophic implosion, and everything associated with the project — all traces of the agreement, earlier drafts, the firm ISDA engaged to coordinate the drafting (Messrs Tubb Fuller Breaden Potter Bacon)[1] and several thousand members of ISDA’s document working group seconded by their employers to contributing their “clarifications” and doubt-avoidances for the greater good of the standard form. All — the document, the personnel, and the drafting tedia — have been lost to history, and we now do not know what the agreement said, how it said it, or indeed whether the agreement really existed at all. And the robots —
The shoulders of Orion 2006-1 CDO
Well, speaking of robots, it is said that Roy Batty’s speech from Blade Runner (1982) fell through a hole in the space-time continuum created by shockwaves from the great financial crisis. Rutger Hauer adapted it, but only slightly, from this exchange, between an ETD negotiator and a mortally injured CDO lawyer as he dragged his wrecked psyche away from the smoking ruins of Merrill Lynch:
“You thought you knew everything, didn't you,” said the hapless futures expert. “And now look at us. You did this. You have no idea.”
The CDO man turned, a replicant glimmer in his eye, and said this:
- I’ve seen things you people wouldn't believe.
- Attack-ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion 2006-1 hybrid CDO.
- I watched mezzanine-tranches glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate.
- All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
- Time to retrain as a primary school teacher.