Template:M summ Equity Derivatives 11

There may be some logic to how ISDA’s crack drafting squad™ mapped out the various adjustments and disruptions that might happen in an equity derivative, but the method has evaporated and the madness only remains. You could organise these events and provisions along any number of different axes and make more or less sense, but the squad appears to have chosen not to, so it falls to us to make some sense of it. Let’s take it from the top.

Adjustments and Modifications versus Extraordinary Events

Firstly, there are those events that aren’t life-threatening to the trade, but, due to some extraneous actions in the market — typically involving the Share issuer or Index provider — require some adjustments. These are, for example Dilution or Concentration Events arising from corporate actions, or changes to the methodology, sponsors or constituents of an Index.

What is affected?

Note that grounds for adjustment or termination generally relate not to the Transaction or the parties to it themselves — those are generally covered by the ISDA Master Agreement — but the referenced “Underliers” (being Shares, Indices and Baskets) underlying it.

How is the Underlier affected?

The event causing trouble might be intrinsic to the Underlier itself — a merger, insolvency, nationalisation, index adjustment or index cancellation — or extrinsic to the Underlier itself, but adversely affecting how it is traded and therefore hedged: illegality, hedging disruption, illiquidity, increased cost of hedging.

Will it blow up the trade?

Some events won’t necessarily blow up the trade, but just require adjustments to the terms for the trade to continue to make sense. If Tesla and Twitter merge into a new corporation called “Twisler”, for example, swaps written on Twitter and Tesla need to be adjusted to reference Twisler, and there may need to be adjustments made to notionals or strike prices to reflect the economics of the merger. These sort of adjustments shouldn’t necessarily cause an early unwind of the Transaction. Likewise, if an index formula or methodology is changed, there may be a need to adjust the economics of a swap referencing that index, but again there is no reason the Transaction itself cannot continue.

If the Hedging Party can’t hedge, on the other hand, it is a different story. This might happen if the Share is delisted (because its Issuer has hit the wall), an Index cancelled, or there is just no liquidity for any number of reasons (Russia invading Ukraine and being sanctioned — that sort of thing.