1987 ISDA Interest Rate and Currency Exchange Agreement: Difference between revisions

From The Jolly Contrarian
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
{{isda87anat|5(a)(vii)}}
{{isda87anat|6(a)}}
Well and truly out of date version of the {{isdama}}.
Well-and-truly out-of-date version of the {{isdama}}, replaced firsst by the {{1992isda}} and then the {{2002isda}}, the {{1987isda}} is nonetheless useful for forensic archaeologists interested to know how the state of the art version got to be how it is today<ref>There are the odd fossils who still insist on using it, though most of those have long-since been taken out and shot, a process now happening to disciples of the {{1992ma}}.</ref>. Nineteen eighty-seven was a different world; the very first swap transaction<ref>Between IBM and the World Bank — see [[swap history][] for more.</ref> was only consummated in 1981. The swap master agreement was a nascent idea to streamline the documentation between counterparties, and to capture this nascent idea of [[close-out netting]], but was basically predicated on the legal precepts of banking facilities. An {{isdama}} is not, of course, any kind of banking facility: certainly not if it is [[Variation margin|daily-margined]], as is now required by regulation for most of the 600 trillion of swaps transacted annually.  


Replaced by the {{1992isda}}, and then the {{2002isda}}.
Many of the lending-derived credit concepts in the {{isdama}} are practically redundant, but they hang on — artifacts of the great [[doctrine of precedent|dogma of precedent]]<ref>Did I say “dogma”? I meant doctrine!</ref>. If it is in the agreement, it must be there for a reason, and if I cannot conceive of one that must be down to my own mental frailty, rather than the caution or basic fussiness of our forefathers and foremothers.


==Differences between 1987 and 1992 Master Agreements==
So if you find something odd, check the [[fossil record]] to see if it has been there from the outset. If it has — for example, the 20-day limit on close out notices under Section {{isda87prov|6(a)}} — then there’s a fair chance the market developments of the last 32 years might have rendered it pointless.
the {{1992ma}} was introduced principally, to:
 
===Differences between {{1987isda and {{1992isda}}===
The {{1992ma}} was introduced principally, to:
*'''Expand range of products covered''': Expand beyond [[interest rate derivatives]] and [[currency derivatives]] and promote the benefit of [[close-out netting]]
*'''Expand range of products covered''': Expand beyond [[interest rate derivatives]] and [[currency derivatives]] and promote the benefit of [[close-out netting]]
*'''Market Developments''': Reflect legal developments between 1987 and 1992.
*'''Market Developments''': Reflect legal developments between 1987 and 1992.
 
*'''[[Physical delivery]]''': Permit [[physical delivery]]
===Significant Changes===
*'''{{isdaprov|Settlement Amount}}s''': Introduce greater flexibility for determining {{isdaprov|Settlement Amount}}s on termination of {{isdaprov|Transactions}} (introducing the {{isdaprov|Loss}}, {{isdaprov|Market Quotation}}, {{isdaprov|First Method}} and {{isdaprov|Second Method}} regimes thereafter replaced in the {{2002ma}} by {{isdaprov|Close-out Amount}}).
*'''Physcial Delivery''': Permits [[physical delivery]]
*'''Two-way payments on termination''': Under the {{1987ma}} a party may not receive termination payments (this is the "limited two-way payment" provision).
*'''{{isdaprov|Settlement Amount}}s''': Introduices greater flexibility for determining {{isdaprov|Settlement Amount}}s upon termination of {{isdaprov|Transactions}} (the {{isdaprov|Loss}}, {{isdaprov|Market Quotation}}, {{isdaprov|First Method}} and {{isdaprov|Second Method}} regimes were introduced, subsequently refined by the {{2002ma}} into {{isdaprov|Close-out Amount}}).
*'''Settlement netting''': more flexibility for netting groups of transactions under Section {{isda87prov|2}} - under the {{1987isda}} you could either [[net]] just within single transactions or across all {{isda87prov|Transactions}}.
*'''Two-Way Payments on Termination''': Inder the {{1987ma}} a party may not receive termination payments (this is the "limited two-way payment" provision).
*'''Settlemnent netting''': more flexibility for netting groups of transactions under Section 2 - under the {{1987ma}} you could either net just within single transactions or across all Transactions.


there are some others - a helpful guide can be found [http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=difference%20between%201987%20isda%20and%201992%20isda&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFYQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.otcguide.com.au%2Fotcwr%2Fpdf%2F1573077_6.pdf&ei=3uwkUOSYOdOChQf71IGYCw&usg=AFQjCNGsjOd2eJW8xzQhB-xeglU_-EUuCA here]
there are some others - a helpful guide can be found [http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=difference%20between%201987%20isda%20and%201992%20isda&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFYQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.otcguide.com.au%2Fotcwr%2Fpdf%2F1573077_6.pdf&ei=3uwkUOSYOdOChQf71IGYCw&usg=AFQjCNGsjOd2eJW8xzQhB-xeglU_-EUuCA here]
==Close-out Netting under the {{1987ma}}==
It can be done, but tread carefully: the somewhat agricultural {{isdaprov|Automatic Early Termination}} provision may cause problems. Generally speaking:
*'''Physical Settlement''': given that the {{1987ma}} doesn't include physical delivery provisions, if you have any physically settled trades under it, you'd need to also add boilerplate language in the master to ensure the close-out mechanic worked for them, including consequential amendments to Sections 5 and 6 of the 1987 master.
*'''Bankruptcy and Automatic Early Termination''': section 5(a)(vii) of the {{1987ma}} is loosely drafted and includes events which it may be difficult to determine with accuracy. (esp. subsections (2), (7), and (8). This would be okay, except for the way '''automatic early termination works under the {{1987ma}}:
**it happens by default (in the {{1992ma}} and subsequently it has to be elected, and only would be elected in those jurisdictions where it was needed to ensure [[close-out netting]])
**it happens by reference to '''all''' of the limbs of the Bankruptcy definition, including those which are observable and definitive. AET shouldn't kick in simply where a party "takes steps in furtherance of" an insolvency filing - it should only happen at the point of that actual insolvency filing.
**That is to say the second sentence of Section 6(a) (see below) deems the occurrence of an {{isdaprov|Early Termination Date}} ''automatically'' upon the occurrence of ''any'' event falling within the Bankruptcy {{isdaprov|Event of Default}}.
By contrast, {{isdaprov|Automatic Early Termination}} under the {{1992ma}} and {{2002ma}}, if elected, does not apply to those events that are uncertain as to the precise time of their occurrence. Therefore, the enforceability of {{isdaprov|Automatic Early Termination}} in the {{1992ma}} and the {{2002ma}} cannot be called into question on the basis of the uncertainty created by the inclusion of the events in the {{1992ma}} and {{2002ma}} equivalent to those in the {{1987ma}} referred to above.


====Relevant Provisions====
====Relevant Provisions====

Revision as of 08:38, 13 June 2019

ISDA Anatomy™


In a Nutshell Section 6(a):

Template:Nutshell 1987 ISDA 6(a) view template

1987 ISDA full text of Section 6(a):

6(a) Right to Terminate Following Event of Default. If at any time an Event of Default with respect to a party (the ‘‘Defaulting Party’’) has occurred and is then continuing, the other party may, by not more than 20 days’ notice to the Defaulting Party specifying the relevant Event of Default, designate a day not earlier than the day such notice is effective as an Early Termination Date in respect of all outstanding Swap Transactions. However, an Early Termination Date will be deemed to have occurred in respect of all Swap Transactions immediately upon the occurrence of any Event of Default specified in Section 5(a)(vii)(1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7) or (8) and as of the time immediately preceding the institution of the relevant proceeding or the presentation of the relevant petition upon the occurrence of any Event of Default specified in Section 5(a)(vii)(4).
view template

Click here for the text of Section 6(a) in the 2002 ISDA

Index: Click to expand:Navigation
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
Tell me more
Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.


Well-and-truly out-of-date version of the ISDA Master Agreement, replaced firsst by the 1992 ISDA and then the 2002 ISDA, the 1987 ISDA is nonetheless useful for forensic archaeologists interested to know how the state of the art version got to be how it is today[1]. Nineteen eighty-seven was a different world; the very first swap transaction[2] was only consummated in 1981. The swap master agreement was a nascent idea to streamline the documentation between counterparties, and to capture this nascent idea of close-out netting, but was basically predicated on the legal precepts of banking facilities. An ISDA Master Agreement is not, of course, any kind of banking facility: certainly not if it is daily-margined, as is now required by regulation for most of the 600 trillion of swaps transacted annually.

Many of the lending-derived credit concepts in the ISDA Master Agreement are practically redundant, but they hang on — artifacts of the great dogma of precedent[3]. If it is in the agreement, it must be there for a reason, and if I cannot conceive of one that must be down to my own mental frailty, rather than the caution or basic fussiness of our forefathers and foremothers.

So if you find something odd, check the fossil record to see if it has been there from the outset. If it has — for example, the 20-day limit on close out notices under Section 6(a) — then there’s a fair chance the market developments of the last 32 years might have rendered it pointless.

Differences between {{1987isda and 1992 ISDA

The 1992 ISDA was introduced principally, to:

there are some others - a helpful guide can be found here

Relevant Provisions

1987 ISDA

5(a)(vii) Bankruptcy. The party or any applicable Specified Entity:–
(1) is dissolved;
(2) becomes insolvent or fails or is unable or admits in writing its inability generally to pay its debts as they become due;
(3) makes a general assignment, arrangement or composition with or for the benefit of its creditors;
(4) institutes or has instituted against it a proceeding seeking a judgment of insolvency or bankruptcy or any other relief under any bankruptcy or insolvency law or other similar law affecting creditors’ rights, or a petition is presented for the winding-up or liquidation of the party or any such Specified Entity, and, in the case of any such proceeding or petition instituted or presented against it, such proceeding or petition
(A) results in a judgment of insolvency or bankruptcy or the entry of an order for relief or the making of an order for the winding-up or liquidation of the party or such Specified Entity or
(B) is not dismissed, discharged, stayed or restrained in each case within 30 days of the institution or presentation thereof;
(5) has a resolution passed for its winding-up or liquidation;
(6) seeks or becomes subject to the appointment of an administrator, receiver, trustee, custodian or other similar official for it or for all or substantially all its assets (regardless of how brief such appointment may be, or whether any obligations are promptly assumed by another entity or whether any other event described in this clause (6) has occurred and is continuing);
(7) any event occurs with respect to the party or any such Specified Entity which, under the applicable laws of any jurisdiction, has an analogous effect to any of the events specified in clauses (1) to (6) (inclusive); or
(8) takes any action in furtherance of, or indicating its consent to, approval of, or acquiescence in, any of the foregoing acts;
other than in the case of clause (1) or (5) or, to the extent it relates to those clauses, clause (8), for the purpose of a consolidation, amalgamation or merger which would not constitute an event described in (viii) below; or

(view template)
1987 ISDA

6(a) Right to Terminate Following Event of Default. If at any time an Event of Default with respect to a party (the ‘‘Defaulting Party’’) has occurred and is then continuing, the other party may, by not more than 20 days’ notice to the Defaulting Party specifying the relevant Event of Default, designate a day not earlier than the day such notice is effective as an Early Termination Date in respect of all outstanding Swap Transactions. However, an Early Termination Date will be deemed to have occurred in respect of all Swap Transactions immediately upon the occurrence of any Event of Default specified in Section 5(a)(vii)(1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7) or (8) and as of the time immediately preceding the institution of the relevant proceeding or the presentation of the relevant petition upon the occurrence of any Event of Default specified in Section 5(a)(vii)(4).

(view template)

ISDA Anatomy™

{{{2}}}

Index: Click to expand:Navigation
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
Tell me more
Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.


  1. There are the odd fossils who still insist on using it, though most of those have long-since been taken out and shot, a process now happening to disciples of the 1992 ISDA.
  2. Between IBM and the World Bank — see [[swap history][] for more.
  3. Did I say “dogma”? I meant doctrine!