Event of Default and Illegality - ISDA Provision

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2002 ISDA Master Agreement

A Jolly Contrarian owner’s manual™

5(c) in a Nutshell

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5(c) in all its glory

5(c) Hierarchy of Events.
5(c)(i) An event or circumstance that constitutes or gives rise to an Illegality or a Force Majeure Event will not, for so long as that is the case, also constitute or give rise to an Event of Default under Section 5(a)(i), 5(a)(ii)(1) or 5(a)(iii)(1) insofar as such event or circumstance relates to the failure to make any payment or delivery or a failure to comply with any other material provision of this Agreement or a Credit Support Document, as the case may be.
5(c)(ii) Except in circumstances contemplated by clause 5(c)(i) above, if an event or circumstance which would otherwise constitute or give rise to an Illegality or a Force Majeure Event also constitutes an Event of Default or any other Termination Event, it will be treated as an Event of Default or such other Termination Event, as the case may be, and will not constitute or give rise to an Illegality or a Force Majeure Event.
5(c)(iii) If an event or circumstance which would otherwise constitute or give rise to a Force Majeure Event also constitutes an Illegality, it will be treated as an Illegality, except as described in clause 5(c)(ii) above, and not a Force Majeure Event.

Related agreements and comparisons

Click here for the text of Section 5(c) in the 1992 ISDA
Click to compare this section in the 1992 ISDA and 2002 ISDA.

Resources and Navigation

This provision in the 1992

Resources Wikitext | Nutshell wikitext | 1992 ISDA wikitext | 2002 vs 1992 Showdown | 2006 ISDA Definitions | 2008 ISDA | JC’s ISDA code project
Navigation Preamble | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
Events of Default: 5(a)(i) Failure to Pay or Deliver5(a)(ii) Breach of Agreement5(a)(iii) Credit Support Default5(a)(iv) Misrepresentation5(a)(v) Default Under Specified Transaction5(a)(vi) Cross Default5(a)(vii) Bankruptcy5(a)(viii) Merger without Assumption
Termination Events: 5(b)(i) Illegality5(b)(ii) Force Majeure Event5(b)(iii) Tax Event5(b)(iv) Tax Event Upon Merger5(b)(v) Credit Event Upon Merger5(b)(vi) Additional Termination Event

Index: Click to expand:

Overview

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A simple piddling match between Events of Default and Illegality in the 1992 ISDA makes way for a full-blown hierarchy of competing circumstances justifying closeout of the ISDA Master Agreement in the 2002 ISDA.

Summary

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In which the JC thinks he might have found a bona fide use for the awful legalism “and/or”. Crikey.

What to do if the same thing counts as an Illegality and/or a Force Majeure Event and an Event of Default and/or a Termination Event.

Why do we need this? Remember, an Event of Default is an apocalyptic disaster scenario which blows your whole agreement up with extreme prejudice; a Termination Event is just “one of those things” which justifies termination, but may relate only to a single Transaction, and even if it affects the whole portfolio, it isn’t something one needs necessarily to hang one’s head about. (It’s hardly your fault if they go and change the law on you, is it?)

A Force Majeure Event is something that is so beyond one’s control or expectation that it shouldn’t count as an Event of Default or even a Termination Event at all — at least until you’ve had a chance to sort yourself out, fashion a canoe paddle with a Swiss Army knife, jury-rig an aerial and get reconnected to the world wide web.

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  • The JC’s famous Nutshell summary of this clause

Template:M premium 2002 ISDA 5(c)

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See also

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References