Credit-Linked Notes
Credit-Linked Notes
Credit-Linked Notes
Credit-linked Notes
1. Repackaging 2. Asset swap repackaging 3. Credit-linked notes: structure and mechanism 4. Motivations of the parties 5. Valuing a credit-linked note
Credit-linked Notes
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Repackaging
Repackaging involves placing securities in an Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which then issues customized notes that are backed by the instruments in the SPV. The goal is to take securities with attractive features that are nevertheless unappealing/inaccessible to many investors and repackage them to create viable investments that are not otherwise available to the investor. A security may be unappealing/inaccessible because it is denominated in an foreign currency, does not trade locally, or because of onerous tax features.
Credit-linked Notes
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Credit-linked Notes
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Credit-linked Notes
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Credit-linked Notes
A credit-linked note (CLN) is a special form of repackaging that is often directly issued by a corporate issuer. Typical underlyings are individual debt instruments (loans, bonds, etc.), portfolios of debt instruments, or bond or emerging market indices. The principal/coupon on the note is paid contingent on the occurrence of a credit event. A CLN is a funded (i.e. on-balance sheet) alternative to a default swap (DS). Compared with a straight DS, the credit investment is de-leverd. The reference credit is usually not aware of the transaction.
Credit-linked Notes
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Mechanism of a CLN
A CLN is a structured note with an embedded DS, in which Issuer/SPV issues notes to investors which are backed by the reference assets, and receives the proceeds Issuer/SPV sells protection on the reference asset in a DS with a third party (bank), and receives the swap rate Issuer/SPV pays an enhanced coupon to the note investors Instead of a DS, the CLN may also embed a rst-to-default swap or a spread option.
Credit-linked Notes
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Credit-linked Notes
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CLN Spreads
Note investors bear the potential losses due to default of the reference asset. In return, they pick up some yield. In essence, the position of the note investors is if they had sold default protection on the reference asset via a DS to the CLN issuer/SPV. Thus, the spread picked up by the CLN investor must roughly equal the DS rate paid by the SPV. In practice, the CLN spread is somewhat higher than the DS spread, since the accrued swap rate is normally not paid in a CLN.
Credit-linked Notes
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Credit-linked Notes
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CLN Investor
An investor (e.g. an investment management fund) may be prohibited from buying bonds rated below AAA. The SPVs rating is AAA, which refers to its ability to pay , but not its obligation to pay. So the fund is allowed to invest into the CLN, although it is essentially investing into the riskier reference asset (it bears the losses associated with them). Thus a CLN can be used to circumvent certain investment constraints in order to enhance yields.
Credit-linked Notes
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Credit-linked Notes
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Credit-linked Notes
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Credit-linked Notes
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Valuing a CLN
Suppose the CLN pays coupons at dates t1 < t2 < < tn = T , where T is the maturity and the annual coupon rate is c. The notional is 1. The value of the notes is CLN = CLNN + CLND , the sum of the PVs of no-default payments and default payments. We have
n
CLNN = E[
i=1 n
=
i=1
PV of coupons
PV of principal
Credit-linked Notes
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=R
0 m
R
j=1 m
=R
j=1
Letting m the approximation is exact (in practice, one usually sets tj tj1 = 1 day).
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