Change in Law - Equity Derivatives Provision: Difference between revisions

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{{eqderivanat|12.9(a)(ii)}}
{{eqdmanual|12.9(a)(ii)}}
Part of the great [[Triple cocktail - Equity Derivatives Provision|triple cocktail]] of protections against nasty things happening on your hedge.
The consequences of a {{eqderivprov|Change in Law}} (or an {{eqderivprov|Insolvency Filing}} are set out in {{eqderivprov|12.9(b)(i)}} (see box to the right).
 
==={{eqderivprov|Shares}} versus {{eqderivprov|Hedge Positions}}===
Common to see references in (x) to “{{eqderivprov|Shares}}” replaced by the slightly wider “{{eqderivprov|Hedge Positions}}”. Not objectionable, but not massively germane either. Ok, maybe your Hedging Party is hedging with futures, or a derivative - and someone else, therefore, is holding the Shares. But they can either continue to do that, and you can continue to hold your future or swap — in which case what’s your disruption? — or they can’t, in which case you have a more general {{eqderivprov|Hedging Disruption}}. Not so likely that it will somehow become illegal to hold a future or swap — but not impossible, I suppose.
===[[Reasonable man|Reasonable]] steps to avoid?===
Uber pedants may also try to argue that there should be some obligation on the {{eqderivprov|Hedging Party}} to take [[reasonable]] steps to avoid a [[Change in law - Equity Derivatives Provision|change in law]]. This is silly, [[Chicken Licken]]ish behaviour. I mean, what are you meant to do? Lobby Congress? Remember, “{{eqderivprov|Hedge Positions}}” is wider and more generic than “any particular hedge position that you happen to have on” at the time the law changes. If you can change your hedging strategy, you are not subject to a {{eqderivprov|Change in Law}}. So resist this drafting, but [[I'm not going to die in a ditch about it|don’t die in a ditch about it]].
 
===Omission of “[[Prong Y]]”===
The industry has generally moved to omit [[Prong Y]] — the “material increase in costs” limb of this definition — because it is largely dealt with already in “{{eqderivprov|Increased Cost of Hedging}}”. It was introduced to capture those changes in law and regulation (changes in regulatory capital calculations, for very good example), that are driven by leglisation, but don’t outlaw the trade altogether, but just make it more expensive to run (either the {{eqderivprov|transaction}} itself, or its [[hedge]])
 
But, if you were splitting hairs, you might say that not all “materially increased” costs a party may incur “in performing its obligations under such {{eqderivprov|Transaction}}” will necessarily relate to hedging — if you suffer a  higher [[regulatory capital]] charge on your actual {{eqderivprov|transaction}} with your {{isdaprov|counterparty}}, that would not be an {{eqderivprov|Increased Cost of Hedging}}, so a {{eqderivprov|Hedging Party}} (and, when it comes to it, a ''non-{{eqderivprov|Hedging Party}}'') should stand its ground on omitting “[[Prong Y]]”.
 
Those who do not have the stomach for this fight may see this expressed as: "Applicable, provided that Section {{eqderivprov|12.9(a)(ii)(Y)}} of the {{eqderivprov|Equity Definitions}} does not apply."
 
See also, for example, the [[2007 European Master Equity Derivatives Confirmation Agreement]], which provides the following:
{{eqderivsnap|Amended Change In Law}}
{{triplecocktail}}