Template:Record amount paid amount ex amount: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Dividend cycle.png|450px|thumb|right|How the dividend cycle interacts with the Dividend Periods in the {{eqderivdefs}}.]]
===Careful: it’s (meant to be) about ''timing'', not amount===
===Careful: it’s (meant to be) about ''timing'', not amount===
So what is the difference betwixt a {{eqderivprov|Record Amount}}, {{eqderivprov|Paid Amount}} and {{eqderivprov|Ex Amount}}? To be clear, it is ''not'' about ''whether'' you get paid, nor ''how much'', but ''when''. A {{eqderivprov|Dividend Amount}} is a {{eqderivprov|Dividend Amount}}: in each case “100%<ref>Or whatever other percentage you agree, of course.</ref> of the gross cash dividend per Share”, end of the day. What this is all to do with is  ''when'' a {{eqderivprov|Dividend Amount}} is deemed to occur, which in turn is a function of which {{eqderivprov|Dividend Period}} the trigger for the dividend falls in.
So what is the difference betwixt a {{eqderivprov|Record Amount}}, {{eqderivprov|Paid Amount}} and {{eqderivprov|Ex Amount}}? To be clear, it is ''not'' about ''whether'' you get paid, nor ''how much'', but ''when''. A {{eqderivprov|Dividend Amount}} is a {{eqderivprov|Dividend Amount}}: in each case “100%<ref>Or whatever other percentage you agree, of course.</ref> of the gross cash dividend per Share”, end of the day. What this is all to do with is  ''when'' a {{eqderivprov|Dividend Amount}} is deemed to occur, which in turn is a function of which {{eqderivprov|Dividend Period}} the trigger for the dividend falls in.
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*The trigger where {{eqderivprov|Ex Amount}} applies is the '''[[ex date]]''' for the dividend in question. You should pay the gross cash dividend on the {{eqderivprov|Cash Settlement Payment Date}} for that {{eqderivprov|Dividend Period}} in which the [[ex date]] falls.
*The trigger where {{eqderivprov|Ex Amount}} applies is the '''[[ex date]]''' for the dividend in question. You should pay the gross cash dividend on the {{eqderivprov|Cash Settlement Payment Date}} for that {{eqderivprov|Dividend Period}} in which the [[ex date]] falls.
*The trigger where {{eqderivprov|Paid Amount}} applies is the '''payment date''' for the dividend in question. You should pay the gross cash dividend on the {{eqderivprov|Cash Settlement Payment Date}} for that {{eqderivprov|Dividend Period}} in which the dividend is paid.
*The trigger where {{eqderivprov|Paid Amount}} applies is the '''payment date''' for the dividend in question. You should pay the gross cash dividend on the {{eqderivprov|Cash Settlement Payment Date}} for that {{eqderivprov|Dividend Period}} in which the dividend is paid.
[[File:Dividend cycle.png|450px|thumb|center|How the dividend cycle interacts with the Dividend Periods in the {{eqderivdefs}}. Click to expand.]]


===Hang on a minute. “Paid”? Is that, like, different to “declared”? On purpose?===
===Hang on a minute. “Paid”? Is that, like, different to “declared”? On purpose?===
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But as for the very good question ''why'' would ''any'' [[equity derivative]] purport to pay out a {{eqderivprov|Dividend Amount}} ''before'' the actual real-world payment date for the Dividend it is synthetically replicating? This is a question only {{icds}} would be placed to answer, and they’re not talking.
But as for the very good question ''why'' would ''any'' [[equity derivative]] purport to pay out a {{eqderivprov|Dividend Amount}} ''before'' the actual real-world payment date for the Dividend it is synthetically replicating? This is a question only {{icds}} would be placed to answer, and they’re not talking.
===[[Dividend clawback]]: if the {{eqderivprov|Issuer}} doesn’t actually pay a declared dividend===
Nor does the [[User’s Guide to the 2002 ISDA Equity Derivatives Definitions]]. It suggests, without saying in which cases, that you might need a clawback right if you don’t want to be on the hook for a {{eqderivprov|Dividend Amount}} declared but not eventually paid by the {{eqderivprov|Issuer}}<ref>This is a JC bastardisation of typically grim ISDA textical contortion, needless to say.</ref>: 
:'''''{{eqderivprov|Dividend Recovery}}''': If the amount an {{eqderivprov|Issuer}} actually pays to {{eqderivprov|Share}}holders of record in respect of a {{eqderivprov|gross cash dividend}} is less than the amount declared (a “'''{{eqderivprov|Dividend Mismatch}}'''”) the {{isdaprov|Calculation Agent}} may calculate a payment under the {{isdaprov|Transaction}} to account for {{eqderivprov|Dividend Mismatch}} and compensate for interest incurred by the party that made the relevant payments. Where the amount actually paid by the {{eqderivprov|Issuer}} to {{eqderivprov|Share}}holders of record for any such dividend is paid or (scheduled) after the {{eqderivprov|Termination Date}}, this provision will still apply even though relevant settlement date has passed. If the {{eqderivprov|Issuer}} subsequently corrects the under-payment, the {{isdaprov|Calculation Agent}} may make a further adjustment.''
“Parties should consider,” further ruminates the [[User’s Guide to the 2002 ISDA Equity Derivatives Definitions|User’s Guide]], in typically passive-aggressive fashion, “the potential [[credit risk]] created by this provision and may wish to consider whether such amounts are adequately covered under the definition of “{{csaprov|Exposure}}” under any relevant [[credit support document]].”
But on what planet would an {{eqderivprov|Equity Amount Payer}} want to be liable for a [[dividend]] ''declared'' but not ultimately ''paid'' by the {{eqderivprov|Issuer}}? And ''why''?That would be to do something [[equity derivative]]s are expressly designed not to do.
===House view: S.N.A.F.U.===
The [[JC]] concludes this is simply a howler in the {{eqdefs}} which ISDA hastily tried to cover up with that clawback malarkey. In any case, to be safe, reference the {{eqderivprov|Paid Amount}}, with an amendment to cover [[ex date]]s occurring on or before the trade date, and [[dividend payment date]]s occurring after the trade date.<ref>Good news! The [[JC]] has had a go for you. See {{eqderivprov|Paid Amount}} for more.</ref> In any case, consensus amongst market professionals we have consulted is that {{eqderivprov|Paid Amount}} does, as its drafting suggests, depend on the {{eqderivprov|Issuer}} ponying up, so no need for that clawback language. That is where you want to be. <br>

Latest revision as of 08:50, 17 May 2022

How the dividend cycle interacts with the Dividend Periods in the 2002 ISDA Equity Derivatives Definitions.

Careful: it’s (meant to be) about timing, not amount

So what is the difference betwixt a Record Amount, Paid Amount and Ex Amount? To be clear, it is not about whether you get paid, nor how much, but when. A Dividend Amount is a Dividend Amount: in each case “100%[1] of the gross cash dividend per Share”, end of the day. What this is all to do with is when a Dividend Amount is deemed to occur, which in turn is a function of which Dividend Period the trigger for the dividend falls in.

Hang on a minute. “Paid”? Is that, like, different to “declared”? On purpose?

Is Paid Amount meant to be different from Record Amount or Ex Amount, in referencing not what is declared, but what the Issuer actually physically, real-world, paid out?

On one hand, on a natural reading it seems so: Record Amount and Ex Amount specify an amount by reference to the amount “declared by the Issuer to holders of record of a Share”, whereas Paid Amount references the amount “paid by the Issuer during the relevant Dividend Period to holders of record”. On the other hand there’s no sensible reason for supposing an Equity Amount Payer would want to keep the risk of solvency of an Issuer if it pays early[2] but not have it if it pays on the payment date. Examination of the world wide web seems to offer little help.

But here’s a common-sense explanation. Remember the timing of the dividend process: first it is declared, then, a short settlement cycle before the record date the share trades “ex-div” (this is the “ex date”), and only then, two or three weeks after the record date, is the actual Dividend Payment Date. And remember this whole farrago is to determine in which Dividend Period the Dividend Amount gets paid.

Now, if you chose Ex Amount, your Cash Settlement Payment Date may well fall before the actual Dividend Payment Date, in which case it doesn’t make sense to talk about the dividend paid by the issuer, because it won’t have been paid yet. If you selected Paid Amount, the Cash Settlement Payment Date necessarily will fall after the Dividend Payment Date, so it is safe to talk about the dividend having been paid. Because it must have been — and in the disaster scenario where it hasn’t — ie, the corporate failure of the underlying issuer — the Equity Amount Payer won’t want to be paying out a Dividend Amount anyway.

But as for the very good question why would any equity derivative purport to pay out a Dividend Amount before the actual real-world payment date for the Dividend it is synthetically replicating? This is a question only ISDA’s crack drafting squad™ would be placed to answer, and they’re not talking.

  1. ↑ Or whatever other percentage you agree, of course.
  2. ↑ or ever, really: that defeats the purpose of an equity derivative
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