Systems for the electronic execution and confirmation of trades require a degree of standardization and a large measure of cooperation that are not required for developing new instruments. Still, the derivatives industry has a long history of cooperating to standardize documentation, and it is disappointing that so little progress has been made in adopting efficient and reliable means of executing and confirming trades.
We must also consider how broadly the recent innovations have been adopted. Of course, the growth of OTC derivatives over the past twenty years has been spectacular and shows no obvious signs of abating.