Corporations' struggle over the past half decade to keep pace with changes to the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market has nursed a growing desire for simplicity amongst participants in the market. These changes—largely the result of a global patchwork of derivatives rules, but also due in part to changes in accounting and valuation methods—have spurred a vexing new reality: Financial risk management has never been more complex.

As market participants prevail upon policymakers for much-needed regulatory simplification, we're seeing the birth of a new era in which simplification in the derivatives market will be driven principally by private-sector efforts.

Last month in Lisbon, Portugal, at ISDA's 32nd Annual General Meeting of global derivatives market participants, an audience poll found that for 55 percent of attendees, regulation is the greatest concern for the year ahead, even though nearly seven years have passed since the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted.