Exchanges - CSA Provision

1995 ISDA Credit Support Annex (English Law)
A Jolly Contrarian owner’s manual™

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Paragraph 3(c) in a Nutshell

Use at your own risk, campers!

Full text of Paragraph 3(c)

3(c) Exchanges.
3(c)(i) Unless otherwise specified in Paragraph 11, the Transferor may on any Local Business Day by notice inform the Transferee that it wishes to transfer to the Transferee Eligible Credit Support specified in that notice (the “New Credit Support”) in exchange for certain Eligible Credit Support (the “Original Credit Support”) specified in that notice comprised in the Transferor’s Credit Support Balance.
3(c)(ii) If the Transferee notifies the Transferor that it has consented to the proposed exchange, (A) the Transferor will be obliged to transfer the New Credit Support to the Transferee on the firstSettlement Day following the date on which it receives notice (which may be oral telephonic notice) from the Transferee of its consent and (B) the Transferee will be obliged to transfer to the Transferor Equivalent Credit Support in respect of the Original Credit Support not later than the Settlement Day following the date on which the Transferee receives the New Credit Support, unless otherwise specified in Paragraph 11(d) (the “Exchange Date”); provided that the Transferee will only be obliged to transfer Equivalent Credit Support with a Value as of the date of transfer as close as practicable to, but in any event not more than, the Value of the New Credit Support as of that date.
The varieties of ISDA CSA
Subject 1994 NY 1995 Eng 2016 VM NY 2016 VM Eng 2018 IM Eng
Preamble Pre Pre Pre Pre Pre
Interpretation 1 1 1 1 1
Security Interest 2 - 2 - 2
Credit Support Obligations 3 2 3 2 3
Transfers, Calculations and Exchanges - 3 - 3 -
Conditions Precedent, Transfer Timing, Calculations and Substitutions 4 - 4 - 4
Dispute Resolution 5 4 5 4 5
Holding and Using Posted Collateral 6 - 6 - 6
Transfer of Title, No Security Interest - 5 - 5 -
Events of Default 7 6 7 6 7
Rights and Remedies 8 - 8 - 7
Representations 9 7 9 7 9
Expenses 10 8 10 8 10
Miscellaneous 11 9 11 9 11
Definitions 12 10 12 10 12
Elections and Variables 13 11 13 11 13
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Content and comparisons

A counterparty who has posted one form of Eligible Credit Support and can ask the Transferee to switch it for something else. The Transferee doesn’t have to, but derivatives counterparties being the reasonable commercial fellows they are — and their operations teams being no-nonsense pragmatists they are — they will generally allow this as part of the normal ebb and flow of collateral operations. Probably less of a thing now 2016 VM CSAs tend to be cash only and base currency cash at that, but the possibility remains, and as, to our enduring regreet, we know, ISDA’s crack drafting squad™ is not usually one to let unexplored possibilities go undocumented.

Note here the Transferor can ask for an exchange, but the Transferee is not obliged to accept it. This is a fundamental provision of “title transfer”: once the Eligible Credit Support is delivered under a title-transfer 1995 CSA, the Transferee owns it absolutely. It only has to return Equivalent Credit Support. This is a special, legal ninja[1] use of the word “equivalent”. It means “fungible”; exactly the same as ~; not “broadly similar to ~”.

This is important also from a pricing (and operational) perspective: otherwise the Transferor would have a “worst-of” option and would be entitled to continually switch into the "cheapest to deliver" of the Eligible Credit Support. Needless to say, the increased collateral flows would also increase the operational burden.

Delivery Amounts: Contrast this with Delivery Amounts, where a Transferor has the option to deliver the cheapest of the Eligible Credit Support specified in the 1995 CSA.

Return Amounts: A Transferee does have a (limited) option in terms of selecting the Return Amount should there be a requirement to return posted credit support: it can select the cheapest to deliver of all the Eligible Credit Support that has been posted to it which currently comprises its Credit Support Balance.

Summary

Template:M summ 1995 CSA 3(c)

See also

Template:M sa 1995 CSA 3(c)

References

  1. Oh, all right, and GMSLA ninja, Repo ninja and other kinds of ninjas too.