Masters joined the bank JP Morgan Chase in 1991 after completing a number of internships there while still a student dating back to 1987 . Responsible for credit derivative products at J.P. Morgan , Masters became a managing director at 28 , the youngest woman to achieve that status in the firm 's history . She is widely credited with creating the modern credit default swap , a derivative used to manage credit exposure to underlying reference entities . In 1994 , J.P. Morgan had extended a $ 4.8 billion credit line to Exxon , which faced the threat of $ 5 billion in punitive damages for the Exxon Valdez oil spill . A team of J.P. Morgan bankers led by Masters then purchased credit protection against the credit line to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development to cut the capital which J.P. Morgan was required to hold against Exxon 's default , thus reducing its own risk . J.P. Morgan later bundled together packages of such exposures and offered them to market as BISTRO , for Broad Index Secured Trust Offering , and these new financial instruments were quickly adopted by other banking institutions
Exxon Valdez oil spill
Exxon Valdez oil spill
Blythe Masters