The ISDA Margin Survey considers the impact of regulatory and other changes on collateral practices, and analyzes the amount and type of initial margin (IM) and variation margin (VM) posted for non-cleared derivatives, and the IM posted for cleared transactions.
The survey finds that the amount of IM collected by the 20 largest market participants (phase-one firms) for their non-cleared derivatives increased by nearly 22% to $130.6 billion at year-end 2017 compared to the first quarter of 2017. Of this amount, $73.7 billion represented margin posted by counterparties currently in scope of the rules (an increase of 58%), and $56.9 billion comprised discretionary IM posted by counterparties not currently in scope (a decrease of 6%).
The survey also finds that $194.1 billion in IM had been posted by all market participants to major central counterparties (CCPs) for their cleared interest rate derivatives (IRD) and credit default swap (CDS) transactions at the end of 2017.
Click on the attached PDF to read the survey.
Documents (2) for ISDA Margin Survey Full Year 2017
Latest
ISDA In Review – August 2026
A compendium of links to new documents, research papers, press releases and comment letters published by ISDA in August 2026.
Remove Bureaucracy from Cross-margin Approvals
Cross-margining programs play a critical role in financial markets. By ensuring margin requirements more closely reflect the actual risk of a portfolio of products, they reduce liquidity strain and improve market efficiency, both of which will become even more important...
Joint Response on CCP Resolution
On September 7, ISDA and FIA responded to a Bank of England (BOE) discussion paper on central counterparty (CCP) resolution. The associations support greater clarity on valuation capabilities prior to a crisis scenario and the boundary between recovery and resolution,...
Expanding Legal Agreement Coverage in the CDM
This paper examines the recent extension of the Common Domain Model (CDM)1 to represent two of the most significant, and previously undeveloped, areas of its legal agreement model: umbrella agreements and contract amendments. Umbrella agreements are widely used to document...