ISDA Master Agreement

Roles that need it

• Legal Counsel
• Confirmations Analyst
• Collateral Management Analyst
• Credit Risk Analyst

Skills it belongs to

• Contract drafting and negotiation
• Derivatives and how they work

Related concepts

• CSA (Credit support annex)A credit support annex (CSA) is the part of International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) documentation that governs collateral for derivatives between two parties: eligible assets, haircuts, thresholds, minimum transfer amounts, valuation and timing of calls. Regulatory CSAs set the terms needed to meet EU margin rules for uncleared derivatives.
• Close-out nettingClose-out netting is the termination of all transactions under a master agreement when one party defaults, and the calculation of a single net amount owed. It reduces credit exposure from the gross values to the net value; the EU Financial Collateral Directive makes such clauses enforceable in insolvency.
• Trade confirmationA trade confirmation is the document or electronic message in which the parties to a trade agree its economic and legal terms. For uncleared over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) requires timely confirmation, by the business day after trade for most financial counterparties, and procedures to resolve unconfirmed trades and disputes.
• OTC derivative (Over-the-counter derivative)An over-the-counter (OTC) derivative is a derivative contract negotiated and concluded bilaterally between two parties instead of on a regulated market, such as an interest rate swap, a currency forward or a credit default swap. In the EU OTC derivatives are subject to European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) clearing, risk mitigation and reporting rules.

Sources

• ISDA documentation library, ISDA (external site) accessed 31 Oct 2026
• Directive 2002/47/EC (Financial Collateral Directive), EUR-Lex (external site) accessed 31 Oct 2026

Updated 31 Oct 2026.