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{{anat|pb|{{subtable|{{rehypothecation capsule}}}}}}{{pbprov|Reuse}} — often labeled {{pbprov|rehypothecation}}<ref>Normal [[hypothecation]], by the way, is a term you don’t often see (and which means simply to [[pledge]] assets by way of [[security]] for a [[debt]]).</ref> (the two are legally very different but economically the same) — is the right a {{pbprov|prime broker}} has over its client’s {{pbprov|custody assets}} to | {{anat|pb|{{subtable|{{rehypothecation capsule}}}}}}{{pbprov|Reuse}} — often labeled {{pbprov|rehypothecation}}<ref>Normal [[hypothecation]], by the way, is a term you don’t often see (and which means simply to [[pledge]] assets by way of [[security]] for a [[debt]]).</ref> (the two are ''legally'' very different but ''economically'' very the same things) — is the right a {{pbprov|prime broker}} has over its client’s {{pbprov|custody assets}} to raise money with them in the market — by ''selling'' them, in a nutshell — to offset its lending costs, against an promise to return [[equivalent]] assets (which it must go and get, by buying them in the market) when the client wants them back. | ||
===Anorak’s corner: The difference between rehypothecation | ===Anorak’s corner: The difference between “[[reuse]]” and “[[rehypothecation]]”=== | ||
The English law “[[right of use]]” is quite straightforward. Under it, contractually, a custodian may transfer a custody asset into its own name absolutely, against | The English law “[[right of use]]” is quite straightforward. Under it, contractually, a custodian may transfer a custody asset into its own name absolutely, against an obligation to “return” an “[[equivalent]]” asset into custody when the client needs it, so sell it. This converts the “custody” relationship over the assets — one of trustee and beneficiary — into one of indebtedness. Once the reuse transfer has happened, the custodian — now ''not'' a custodian, of course — may deal with the asset as it wishes, and ''whether or not it sells it into the market'', but has a liability to return an equivalent asset, and when it does, the custody and security relationship resume over that asset. | ||
So far so good. But now we board our liner at Southampton and head for the New World. Here things are never easy. There is a strain of American jurisprudence that admits of [[paradox]] — that revels in it — and rehypothecation is its | So far so good. But now we board our liner at Southampton and head for the New World. Here things are never easy. There is a strain of American jurisprudence that admits of [[paradox]] — that revels in it — and rehypothecation is one of its higher tide marks. To “[[rehypothecate]]” an asset is to take it and sell it outright ''without depriving its owner of legal title to the asset''. Now of course, to someone brought up munching pithy [[Latin]] aphorisms like ''[[nemo dat quod non habet]]'' for breakfast, as all English lawyers were, that doesn’t make literal sense. U.S. attorneys, I fancy, know it. They will regard you beadily should you ask them to explain it, and will decline to do so. It just is. The best I can do is point to a section on the ICMA website which itself sounds rather baffled: | ||
{{quote| | {{quote| | ||
''... the collateral-giver remains the owner but only until the collateral-taker exercises his right of rehypothecation. When this right is exercised, there is a material change in the legal relationship between the parties. The pledge is extinguished and the collateral-giver loses his title to the collateral, which is transferred to the third party to whom the collateral has been rehypothecated. In exchange, the collateral-giver is given a contractual right to the return of the same or similar collateral but this claim is intrinsically unsecured.}} | ''... the collateral-giver remains the owner but only until the collateral-taker exercises his right of rehypothecation. When this right is exercised, there is a material change in the legal relationship between the parties. The pledge is extinguished and the collateral-giver loses his title to the collateral, which is transferred to the third party to whom the collateral has been rehypothecated. In exchange, the collateral-giver is given a contractual right to the return of the same or similar collateral but this claim is intrinsically unsecured.}} | ||
That sounds to me, readers, like title transfer reuse — perhaps only at the point it leaves the custodian’s hands and not before, granting a scintilla of additional protection, but really not much. | That sounds to me, readers, like [[title transfer|title-transfer]] [[reuse]] — perhaps only at the point it leaves the custodian’s hands and not before, granting a scintilla of additional protection, but really not much. | ||
=== Reuse generally=== | === Reuse generally=== | ||
It is a fundamental part of a [[prime brokerage]] business. This is how a {{pbprov|prime broker}} funds its costs of lending to its Hedge Fund clients, which allows them to gain [[leverage]], buy the assets and conflate [[alpha]] with [[vega]]: it is ''not'' a [[credit risk mitigation technique]] (for that see {{pbprov|security}} and {{pbprov|margin}}. | It is a fundamental part of a [[prime brokerage]] business. This is how a {{pbprov|prime broker}} funds its costs of lending to its Hedge Fund clients, which allows them to gain [[leverage]], buy the assets and conflate [[alpha]] with [[vega]]: it is ''not'' a [[credit risk mitigation technique]] (for that see {{pbprov|security}} and {{pbprov|margin}}. | ||
It seems a rather drastic right | It seems a rather drastic right until you put it in context: | ||
*Usually, the client will only own the custody assets in the first place because its [[prime broker]] has lent it the money to buy them. [[Hedge fund]]s like to buy on [[margin]] so they they can (ahem) [[leverage]] their [[Leveraged alpha|alpha]]. | *Usually, the client will only own the custody assets in the first place because its [[prime broker]] has lent it the money to buy them. [[Hedge fund]]s like to buy on [[margin]] so they they can (ahem) [[leverage]] their [[Leveraged alpha|alpha]]. | ||
* | *Running a [[prime brokerage]] business — lending to clients and then holding assets they buy with their loans in [[custody]] for them, is an expensive business. If the [[prime broker]] can raise finance against those (for example by using them as [[collateral]] under a [[securities financing]] programme) it can improve its [[balance sheet]] position, repay its internal treasury department the funds they made available at eye-watering rates, therefore markedly cheapening their own cost of lending and avoiding [[custody]] charges. Both of these mean it can price its loans more attractively to its clients. | ||
There is a world of difference between [[rehypothecation]] and [[agent lending]], even though {{tag|UCITS V}} threatens (vaguely) to regard them as [[22(7) - UCITS V Provision|different varieties of the same thing]]. | There is a world of difference between [[rehypothecation]] and [[agent lending]], even though {{tag|UCITS V}} threatens (vaguely) to regard them as [[22(7) - UCITS V Provision|different varieties of the same thing]]. |