Scope of the ISDA Master Agreement and Schedule

ISDA master agreement and schedule

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) documentation for derivatives involves layers of documentation (often referred to as the ISDA documentation architecture). It is important to understand how each document fits within the framework in order to be able to negotiate the documentation effectively. The key layers of documentation for a trade under the ISDA documentation framework are:

1. •

   master agreement—a pre-printed umbrella document which includes the boilerplate provisions (unless varied by the schedule to the master agreement)

2. •

   schedule to the master agreement—amends the terms of the master agreement as required by the parties

3. •

   credit support documents (optional unless otherwise required by regulation)—credit support is a method of providing collateral or security for the obligations under derivative transactions, either in the form of:

   1. ◦

      a credit support annex which forms part of the schedule, or

   2. ◦

      a credit support deed which is a stand alone document

      See