The Post-Reform Guide to Derivatives and Futures

The derivatives market is one of the largest, and most important financial markets in the world. It's also one of the least understood. Today we are witnessing the unprecedented reform and reshaping of this market, and along with these events, the entire life cycle of a derivatives transaction has been affected. Accordingly, nearly all market participants in the modern economy need to view the handling of risk by derivatives in a very different way.

Many aspects of financial services reform are based on a belief that derivatives caused the Great Recession of 2008. While the difficulties we now face cannot be blamed solely on derivatives, the need to understand this market, and the financial products that trade within it, has never been greater. The Post-Reform Guide to Derivatives and Futures provides straightforward descriptions of these important investment products, the market in which they trade, and the law that now, after July 16, 2011, governs their use in America and creates challenges for investors throughout the world. Author Gordon Peery is an attorney who works exclusively in the derivatives markets and specializes in derivatives and futures reform and market structure. Since representing clients in Congressional hearings involving Enron Corp., he has developed extensive experience in this field. With this guide, he reveals how derivatives law, and market practice throughout the world, began to change in historic ways beginning in 2011, and what you must do to keep up with these changes.

• Explains what derivatives and futures are, who trades them, and what must be done to manage risk in the post reform world
• Accurately reflects the futures and derivatives markets as they exist today and how they will be transformed by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
• Highlights the risks and common disputes regarding derivatives and futures, and offers recommendations for best practices in light of the evolving law governing derivatives

The financial crisis has changed the rules of Wall Street, especially when it comes to derivatives and futures. The Post-Reform Guide to Derivatives and Futures will help you navigate this evolving field and put you in a better position to make the most informed decisions within it.

GORDON F. PEERY has lectured in London, Hong Kong, Toronto, Brunei, Kuala Lumpur, and the United States on the 2008 market crises and derivatives reform. Since representing a leading investment bank in televised Enron hearings in Congress, Mr. Peery developed a global legal practice exclusively devoted to derivatives and futures clients. In his seventeenth year in large firm legal practice, Mr. Peery is a partner who counsels governments, sovereign wealth funds, international investment advisors, states, counties, global investment management clients, funds, managed accounts, real estate firms, energy companies, and individuals as a leader within the Derivatives and Structured Products Practice of K&L Gates LLP, one of the ten largest law firms in the world. Mr. Peery has actively contributed to International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) and the Futures Industry Association (FIA) working groups and has taught for ISDA. He has helped shape the next generation of derivatives and futures documentation and has authored or coauthored over thirty articles on derivatives and futures. He holds degrees from Vanderbilt Law School (JD, recipient of the endowed Bennett Douglas Bell Memorial Award) and the University of Southern California, where he graduated with a double-major, magna cum laude, as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.