Specified Transaction - ISDA Provision

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ISDA Anatomy™


Template:2002Specified Transaction Definitionisda
Template:ISDA Master Agreement 2002Specified Transaction Definition Specified Transaction Definition
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{{ISDA_Master_Agreement {{{5}}} 1992}}
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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
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Specified Transactions, default under which entitles one to close out the ISDA, excludes Transactions under the ISDA itself. This is for the sensible reason that a default under an ISDA Transaction is covered by elsewhere in the ISDA (eg Failure to Pay or Deliver and Breach of Obligation concepts, and it might lead to a perverse result if a Transaction was not otherwise an Event of default under any ISDA provision but the DUST provision, however unlikely that may be.

The 2002 ISDA expands the basic definition of Specified Transaction to specifically include futures credit derivatives, repo, stock lending, weather derivatives, NDFs, transactions executed under terms of business and other commodities or similar transactions that is presently or in future becomes common in the financial markets.

An odd cognitive dissonance

Note DUST doesn't generally pick up contracts in the nature of borrowed money or indebtedness, because these are picked up under the wider scope of the Cross Default provision which, of course, applies to indebtedness your counterparty owes to anyone, not just to you (though it does cover indebtedness owed to you). Still, there is weirdness: Cross Default contemplates a Threshold Amount before it can be triggered. DUST doesn't. So this leads to an odd gap:

  • A (sub Threshold Amount) default under Specified Indebtedness between the two contractual parties would not entitle the innocent party to close out;
  • A default under any other Specified Transaction between them would even if a smaller quantum of default. This is kind of counterintuitive. If you were to define DUST to include indebtedness, of course, you'd be covered.