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The “digital” answer is always netting …
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The co-architect of the design and drafting of the modern form of master trading agreements such as the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement (GMSLA) Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA) and ISDA Master Agreement Jeffrey Golden KC (Hon) once stated that "the answer is always netting". The continuing force of the statement lies in netting's central role in both counterparty credit risk mitigation and financial stability. However the effectiveness and enforceability of netting under these master trading agreements have come to depend on legal opinions intended to confirm enforceability.
Yet 40 years after the capital markets industry started to utilise these legal opinions for this purpose very little has changed in how they are produced or operationalised. Legal opinion practice in the financial markets has not kept pace with the complexity of modern trading relationships evolving regulatory requirements or the increasing role of...
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