aosphere's very first product, netalytics (a joint venture with ISDA which began in 2001), paved the way for a generation of online legal products offered by aosphere.
Today, more than 100 financial institutions the netalytics traffic light approach is now a familiar ‘friend’ but back then it was a radical move to take legal opinions from across the globe and offer standardised online analysis.
More than 20 years on and many derivatives products later (CSAnalytics, diligence, repoAnalytics, SLAnalytics, G20, EFETalytics and DRVanalytics) Head of aosphere derivatives products, Victoria Wells, reflects on how it all began and what’s next.
Victoria, whats your first memory of working on netalytics?
Back then I was a senior associate in the Allen & Overy Derivatives and Structured Finance (DSF) Group working on a whole range of derivatives related matters. I remember being asked to help devise the template alongside DSF partners Ed Murray and Simon Haddock and senior associate Julie Spencer. The template comprised 13 key questions and the colour-coding of the traffic lights. It was the first time legal advice had been broken down into data points in this way and although the template looks simple a LOT of time and thought went into the wording of those questions, as well as the look and feel of the site.
The next step was standardising the answers across jurisdictions as much as we could. Once we started we realised how difficult and time consuming a task this really was. Little did I know then that 20 years later netalytics would cover 80 jurisdictions and have a loyal client base of more than 100 organisations relying on our content, or that I would be managing a team of 6 senior lawyers working across 8 different derivatives aosphere products.
What is your best memory of working on netalytics?
Undoubtedly the first ISDA AGM where we showcased netalytics (Berlin - 2002). netalytics is a joint venture with ISDA and so it made perfect sense to formally launch it there. We had no idea how to sell a ‘product’ and our stand consisted of some A4 laminates with the netalytics logo on and beach balls as free gifts. BUT the queues for our booth were the longest in the room and that was amazing and exciting.
When did you realise how important a product netalytics was going to be?
I think when clients would literally come and hug us and thank us for taking this huge burden off their desks. Also, relatively early on, changes in our colour-coding from green to yellow (or even red) began being picked up and discussed in the market. A change in a netting flag is a quick way for subscribers to be alerted to problematic changes in underlying law. Over time our flags have become the benchmark for analysis (even referred to in the FT!) and we have had the opportunity to help clarify and shape the way netting rules are expressed and written. It’s a great feeling to offer something that is used daily and in a key operational way by our clients.
What makes a good aosphere derivatives lawyer?
Someone who can get deep into the detail of a 200+ page opinion, see past the less relevant content and get to the crux of the issue and enjoy it (or at least not complain too much!). Our lawyers are also supported by our amazing editorial support team who manage our publishing and platform. It’s a great team to work in and many of our lawyers have been with us since the early days so we have a hugely solid background knowledge of netting issues all across the globe.
What has changed the most in the last 20 years in the derivatives team at aosphere?
We started with just two lawyers and now we’re a team of seven. But basically we are still a small close-knit team with a significant number of PQE years between us (too many to count!), committed to wading through the detail so subscribers don’t have to! The biggest change has been the growth in our product base and subscriber base and with that our reputation as a provider of market-leading netting analysis across many agreement types.
What’s next for the derivative products at aosphere?
We have recently been consulting with some of our larger subscribers on creating a next-gen version of some of our netting products to facilitate better end-to end processes within their organisations. We have had positive feedback from subscribers and this new granular data model will be being rolled out over the next 12 months or so. We also look forward to getting back to seeing clients in person (although we definitely won’t be handing out any beach balls!).
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Market leading analysis of netting, collateral taking, pre-trade due diligence, clearing, margin and reporting requirements across the spectrum of derivatives products (whether governed by ISDA documentation, the GMRA/GMSLA, the EFET documentation or other market-standard documentation).
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