On May 19, Christian Johnson, Professor of Law at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, participated in the University College of Dublin’s program titled The Regulatory Challenges of OTC Derivatives. Johnson commented on the paper of Professor Dan Awrey, a lecturer at Oxford University, titled “Complexity, Innovation and the Dynamics of OTC Derivatives Regulation.” In his comments, Johnson focused on the proper interpretation and understanding of Awrey’s graph illustrating the complexity frontier. The graph demonstrates the relationship between information costs and bounded rationality with respect to complex financial products. On May 20, Professor Johnson presented “The Role of ISDA in the OTC Derivative Markets,” as part of a program titled Forging a New Regulatory Balance: OTC Derivatives and the Global Financial Crisis. Johnson focused on the reasons behind the dominating role that ISDA has played over the past 25 years in the OTC derivatives industry.
On May 22, Professor Johnson presented a discussion to the finance faculty at Abu Dhabi University, a large private university in the United Arab Emirates, on the role of the Federal Reserve in the Great Financial Crisis and its aftermath. After presenting and describing the Federal Reserve’s actions, the discussion focused on the implications of these actions on the U.S. dollar and Abu Dhabi. Professor Johnson runs a website which provides references and citations discussing OTC derivatives at clearingotcderivatives.com.