Force Majeure Event - ISDA Provision: Difference between revisions

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{{nman|isda|2002|Force Majeure}}
 
==Section {{isdaprov|5(b)(ii)}} {{2002ma}}==
{{isdaquote|{{isdaprov|5(b)(ii)}} {{isdaprov|Force Majeure Event}}. After giving effect to any applicable provision, disruption fallback or remedy specified in, or <br>pursuant to, the relevant Confirmation or elsewhere in this {{isdaprov|Agreement}}, by reason of [[force majeure]] or act of state occurring <br>after a {{isdaprov|Transaction}} is entered into, on any day:― <br>
:(1) the {{isdaprov|Office}} through which such party (which will be the {{isdaprov|Affected Party}}) makes and receives payments or deliveries with <br>respect to such {{isdaprov|Transaction}} is prevented from performing any absolute or contingent obligation to make a payment or delivery <br>in respect of such Transaction, from receiving a payment or delivery in respect of such {{isdaprov|Transaction}} or from complying with <br>any other material provision of this {{isdaprov|Agreement}} relating to such {{isdaprov|Transaction}} (or would be so prevented if such payment, <br>delivery or compliance were required on that day), or it becomes impossible or impracticable for such {{isdaprov|Office}} so to perform, <br>receive or comply (or it would be impossible or impracticable for such {{isdaprov|Office}} so to perform, receive or comply if such <br>payment, delivery or compliance were required on that day); or <br>
:(2) such party or any {{isdaprov|Credit Support Provider}} of such party (which will be the {{isdaprov|Affected Party}}) is prevented from performing <br>any absolute or contingent obligation to make a payment or delivery which such party or {{isdaprov|Credit Support Provider}} has under <br>any {{isdaprov|Credit Support Document}} relating to such {{isdaprov|Transaction}}, from receiving a payment or delivery under such Credit Support <br>Document or from complying with any other material provision of such {{isdaprov|Credit Support Document}} (or would be so prevented if <br>such payment, delivery or compliance were required on that day), or it becomes impossible or impracticable for such party or <br>{{isdaprov|Credit Support Provider}} so to perform, receive or comply (or it would be impossible or impracticable for such party or <br>{{isdaprov|Credit Support Provider}} so to perform, receive or comply if such payment, delivery or compliance were required on that day), <br>
so long as the force majeure or act of state is beyond the control of such Office, such party or such Credit Support <br>Provider, as appropriate, and such {{isdaprov|Office}}, party or {{isdaprov|Credit Support Provider}} could not, after using all reasonable efforts <br>(which will not require such party or {{isdaprov|Credit Support Provider}} to incur a loss, other than immaterial, incidental expenses), <br>overcome such prevention, impossibility or impracticability;|5(b)(ii)|2002}}
 
==Section {{isdaprov|Force Majeure Event}} in the {{1992ma}}==
There is no equivalent in the {{1992ma}}. An {{isdaprov|Impossibility}} clause was frequently written into the schedule, which endeavoured to do the same thing.
 
===Incorporating {{isdaprov|Force Majeure Event}} into the {{1992ma}}===
On the subject of incorporating Force Majeure into the 1992 Master:
 
No problem including the concept but it then has to be carried through to its logical conclusion i.e.:
*hierachy of events,
*impact re deferral of Early Termination Amount etc.
The concept also impacts basis of Close Out because the 2002 requires use of true mids for valuation i.e, not the mean of each party's view of the bid/offer where a force majeure event (or illegality) occurs, which is what you effectively get under the 1992 "two affected parties" option.
 
{{isdaanatomy}}

Latest revision as of 16:38, 14 August 2024

2002 ISDA Master Agreement

A Jolly Contrarian owner’s manual™

Force Majeure in a Nutshell

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Original text

Force Majeure Event” has the meaning specified in Section 5(b).


5(b)(ii) Force Majeure Event. After giving effect to any applicable provision, disruption fallback or remedy specified in, or pursuant to, the relevant Confirmation or elsewhere in this Agreement, by reason of force majeure or act of state occurring after a Transaction is entered into, on any day:―
5(b)(ii)(1) the Office through which such party (which will be the Affected Party) makes and receives payments or deliveries with respect to such Transaction is prevented from performing any absolute or contingent obligation to make a payment or delivery in respect of such Transaction, from receiving a payment or delivery in respect of such Transaction or from complying with any other material provision of this Agreement relating to such Transaction (or would be so prevented if such payment, delivery or compliance were required on that day), or it becomes impossible or impracticable for such Office so to perform, receive or comply (or it would be impossible or impracticable for such Office so to perform, receive or comply if such payment, delivery or compliance were required on that day); or
5(b)(ii)(2) such party or any Credit Support Provider of such party (which will be the Affected Party) is prevented from performing any absolute or contingent obligation to make a payment or delivery which such party or Credit Support Provider has under any Credit Support Document relating to such Transaction, from receiving a payment or delivery under such Credit Support Document or from complying with any other material provision of such Credit Support Document (or would be so prevented if such payment, delivery or compliance were required on that day), or it becomes impossible or impracticable for such party or Credit Support Provider so to perform, receive or comply (or it would be impossible or impracticable for such party or Credit Support Provider so to perform, receive or comply if such payment, delivery or compliance were required on that day),
so long as the force majeure or act of state is beyond the control of such Office, such party or such Credit Support Provider, as appropriate, and such Office, party or Credit Support Provider could not, after using all reasonable efforts (which will not require such party or Credit Support Provider to incur a loss, other than immaterial, incidental expenses), overcome such prevention, impossibility or impracticability;
See ISDA Comparison for a comparison between the 1992 ISDA and the 2002 ISDA.
The Varieties of ISDA Experience
Subject 2002 (wikitext) 1992 (wikitext) 1987 (wikitext)
Preamble Pre Pre Pre
Interpretation 1 1 1
Obligns/Payment 2 2 2
Representations 3 3 3
Agreements 4 4 4
EODs & Term Events 5 Events of Default: FTPDBreachCSDMisrepDUSTCross DefaultBankruptcyMWA Termination Events: IllegalityFMTax EventTEUMCEUMATE 5 Events of Default: FTPDBreachCSDMisrepDUSTCross DefaultBankruptcyMWA Termination Events: IllegalityTax EventTEUMCEUMATE 5 Events of Default: FTPDBreachCSDMisrepDUSSCross DefaultBankruptcyMWA Termination Events: IllegalityTax EventTEUMCEUM
Early Termination 6 Early Termination: ET right on EODET right on TEEffect of DesignationCalculations; Payment DatePayments on ETSet-off 6 Early Termination: ET right on EODET right on TEEffect of DesignationCalculationsPayments on ETSet-off 6 Early Termination: ET right on EODET right on TEEffect of DesignationCalculationsPayments on ET
Transfer 7 7 7
Contractual Currency 8 8 8
Miscellaneous 9 9 9
Offices; Multibranch Parties 10 10 10
Expenses 11 11 11
Notices 12 12 12
Governing Law 13 13 13
Definitions 14 14 14
Schedule Schedule Schedule Schedule
Termination Provisions Part 1 Part 1 Part 1
Tax Representations Part 2 Part 2 Part 2
Documents for Delivery Part 3 Part 3 Part 3
Miscellaneous Part 4 Part 4 Part 4
Other Provisions Part 5 Part 5 Part 5

Resources and Navigation

Index: Click to expand:

Comparisons

Force Majeure Event: There is no Force Majeure in the 1992 ISDA, though parties would habitually negotiate one in, and by the time the 2002 ISDA was published it was in fairly standardised. For those who didn’t negotiate it in there was also the ISDA Illegality/Force Majeure Protocol (see here) which they could sign — upon payment of the suitable fee is ISDA — to adopt/incorporate the relevant parts.

Waiting period

There is no “Waiting Period” in the 1992 ISDA or in the 1987 ISDA. ISDA’s crack drafting squad™ introduced it in the 2002 ISDA with the arrival of Force Majeure, and liked it so much they extended it to Illegality.

Basics

For the last word on force majeure, the JC’s ultimate force majeure clause is where it’s at. Breaking what must be a habit of a lifetime, somehow ISDA’s crack drafting squad™ managed to refrain from going crazy-ape bonkers with a definition of force majeure and instead, didn’t define it at all. In the 1992 ISDA they didn’t even include the concept.

Interlude: if you are in a hurry you can avoid this next bit.

I don’t know this, but I am going to hazard the confident hypothesis that what happened here was this:

ISDA’s crack drafting squad™, having convened its full counsel of war, fought so bloodily over the issue, over so long a period, that the great marble concourse on Mount Olympus was awash with the blood of slain legal eagles, littered with severed limbs, wings, discarded weapons, arcane references to regional variations of tidal waves, horse droppings from Valkyries etc., that there was barely a soul standing, and the only thing that prevented total final wipe-out was someone going, “ALL RIGHT, GOD DAMN IT. WE WON’T DEFINE WHAT WE MEAN BY FORCE MAJEURE AT ALL.”

There was then this quiet, eerie calm, when remaining combatants suddenly stopped; even those mortally wounded on the floor looked up, beatifically; a golden light bathed the whole atrium, choirs of angels sang and the chairperson said, “right, well that seems like a sensible, practical solution. What next then?”

“We thought we should rewrite the 2002 ISDA Equity Derivatives Definitions in machine code, your worship.”

“Excellent idea! Let’s stop faffing around with this force majeure nonsense and do that then!”

Ok back to normal.

Force Majeure in the 1992 ISDA

We may have said this before but, just because there isn’t a Force Majeure proper in the preprinted 1992 doesn’t mean people don’t borrow the concept from the 2002 — which has been around for, you know, 21 years now — and put it in anyway. One thing we can’t fathom is what possessed ISDA’s crack drafting squad™ to put it in at Section 5(b)(ii), rather than Section 5(b)(iv) just before the Additional Termination Event section, because for absolute shizzle anyone familiar with one version of the ISDA Master Agreement is going to get confused as hell if they start misunderstanding clause references in the other.

Act of state

Note the reference to “act of state”. Now a state, rather like a corporation, is a juridical being — a fiction of the law — with no res extensa as such. It exists on the rarefied non-material plane of jurisprudence. There are, thus, only a certain number of things that, without the agency of one if its employees, a state can do, and these involve enacting and repealing laws, promulgating and withdrawing regulations, signing treaties, entering contracts and, where is has waived its sovereign immunity, litigating their meaning.

Thus, a force majeure taking the shape of an act of state is, we humbly submit, a change in law which makes it impossible for one side or the other to perform its obligations. Compare, therefore, with Illegality.

Waiting Period (2002)

The point of Waiting Period is, for potential scenarios that might wind up justifying termination later, but you don’t yet know that, to build in a period to wait and see. For Illegality events (Section 5(b)(i)) is three Local Business Days — it is not so likely that an Illegality will sort itself out; for a Force Majeure Event (5(b)(ii) — where insh’Allah, things will come right and everyone can eventually go back to what they were doing, it is eight Local Business Days.

Waiting Periods — as defined in the ISDA Master Agreement also sometimes show up sometimes in other booklets — for example, ISDA’s Emissions Annex.

Through the good offices of Section 5(d), payments and deliveries which otherwise would be due during a Waiting Period are suspended.

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See also

References