The History of Financial Derivatives: A 2-Part Feature

This 2-part series discusses the emergence of financial derivatives after the collapse of the Bretton Woods accord in 1971. In Part 1, the paper explains the concepts that enabled financial derivatives markets to flourish, focusing on the required mathematical concepts. Part 2 continues with enumerating the business models that have been employed by successful commercial participants in the financial derivatives arena. A revisited version of this paper was published in the November/December 2015 issue of Corporate Finance Review.