The collateral agreement attached to an ISDA master, specifying what collateral is posted against derivative exposure, how often, and in what form.
The CSA sets thresholds below which no collateral is required, minimum transfer amounts to avoid trivial movements, eligible collateral types with their haircuts, and the frequency of valuation and transfer.
These parameters determine how much exposure can build before cash moves. A high threshold means large unsecured exposure accumulates between calls; daily valuation with a zero threshold means exposure is collateralised almost continuously but generates constant operational and liquidity demands.
Post-crisis rules impose mandatory initial and variation margin on uncleared derivatives above certain thresholds, largely removing the discretion that earlier CSAs allowed. See collateral and variation-margin.
Original diagrams for the ideas on this page. Illustrative, not real market data.
Margin and leverage. A $5,000 deposit can control a $100,000 position, which is 20:1 leverage. Because the loss is measured on the full $100,000, a 2.5% move against you halves the deposit and brings a margin call, and a 5% move uses all of it.
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