Advanced ISDA® Master Agreement Negotiations

The trainer is a specialist lawyer and senior strategic adviser with over 25 years of transactional experience across magic circle law firms, bulge bracket investment banks, and City practice. Most recently, she served as a partner heading a structured finance and derivatives team in Europe. She has spent her career advising some of the world's leading financial institutions, including Credit Suisse, Citigroup, and HSBC.

Her core expertise spans derivatives, securitisation, real estate finance, repos, debt capital markets, and financial regulation. At A&O Shearman, she advised on CMBS and RMBS securitisations, LMA documentation, and US 144A deals. She possesses exceptional front-office insight, having been seconded to the Real Estate Finance trading desks at Credit Suisse and to Citibank. Subsequently, she moved in-house at Credit Suisse, advising on structured products, derivatives, CDOs, CLOs, repos, and regulatory capital transactions through and after the global financial crisis.

Her consulting career spans complex, high-profile projects for major institutions, including Barclays, HSBC, and Linklaters, covering large-scale remediation, regulatory compliance, and financial litigation. Since 2015, she has operated as a subject matter expert trainer, designing and leading global workshops for senior lawyers, law firm partners, accountants, bankers, asset managers, and C-suite executives. She holds an LL.B (Hons) degree from University College London (UCL) and brings a global perspective to cross-border transaction structures, having practiced across London, New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Master the architecture of the 2002 ISDA Master Agreement, analysing each clause in detail to uncover the complex interplay between the core provisions themselves, as well as their mechanical interaction with the ISDA Schedule
• Understand the key differences between the 1992 and 2002 versions of the ISDA Master Agreement
• Receive and apply an exclusive negotiation guidance note containing targeted questions to ask counterparties, strategic negotiation points, and drafting points, allowing you to successfully negotiate the ISDA Schedule in accordance with market standard practices
• Review and discuss the Credit Support Annex (CSA) along with standard market practices
• Assess the legal and commercial mechanics of Close-out Netting and Valuations, identifying common pitfalls and the primary catalysts for valuation disputes
• Manage default scenarios with confidence and mitigate risks using the detailed, step-by-step procedural timelines and checklists required when faced with an Event of Default or Termination Event
• Apply theoretical legal concepts directly to practice through an interactive group case study actively negotiating an ISDA Schedule with other participants

This ISDA® master agreement course is highly relevant for professionals involved in or likely to be involved in structuring, documenting, reviewing, and negotiating ISDA trades. Attendees typically include:

• Legal & Documentation: In-house counsel, private practice lawyers (from paralegals to partners and heads of department), and ISDA documentation teams
• Risk & Front Office: Credit Risk personnel (Analyst to Managing Director) making credit decisions relating to ISDA agreements, derivative traders, and structurers
• Operations & Compliance: Collateral management teams focused on margin calls and CSAs, operations teams booking trades and managing EMIR reporting, compliance personnel, and accountants advising on swap transactions

Our ISDA master agreement training covers the pertinent issues related to drafting, negotiating, and understanding the ISDA Master Agreement. The course provides a comprehensive ISDA documentation framework, beginning with a detailed clause-by-clause analysis of the 2002 ISDA Master Agreement, followed by a comparative analysis between the 1992 and 2002 versions.

We will undertake a detailed analysis of the ISDA Schedule, including any EMIR Regulation related language. Participants will learn the key market negotiation points relevant to negotiating an ISDA Master Agreement, including the strategic questions to ask depending on which party you represent. The course discusses the Credit Support Annex (“CSA”), ancillary ISDA documentation, settlement netting, close-out netting, and the legal mechanics of how swaps are valued.

Finally, we cover the operative provisions for Events of Default and Termination Events, providing procedural timelines and checklists that outline notice requirements, as well as legal, commercial, and operational points to manage. The training incorporates relevant case law and culminates in an Interactive Group Case Study involving the documentation and negotiation of an ISDA Schedule using a live case study