"There will still be a very asymmetrical level of experience between swap dealers and end users," Frost predicts. "Even the capital markets pros at some of the larger, more active companies, if they are not derivatives savvy, will find it hard to catch that extra basis point in their transactions. And we have worked on transactions where one basis point could be worth a quarter-million dollars."

"In a derivatives transaction, the fee is totally embedded and highly opaque," agrees Craig Orchant, co-founder and chief advisory officer for EA Markets, and formerly managing director and head of corporate finance and risk management at Barclays Capital in New York.

Orchant isn't totally disenchanted with Dodd-Frank, however. Over the long term, he says, its rules and regulations could be good for corporate America. "Initially they may have little impact, and may even scare off some end-users if they object to doing greater reporting of their transactions or subjecting themselves to greater regulatory review," he says. "But over time, I think there will be sufficient additional transparency that it helps to reduce bid-offer spreads, and that, along with the reduced counterparty risk that comes from clearing, will bring in a greater number of marginal participants into the market."

Randy Myers is a business and finance journalist based in Dover, Pa.