CDS and the Resolution of Financial Distress

Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Forthcoming

Seton Hall Public Law Research Paper No. 2012-12

17 Pages Posted: 10 Oct 2012 Last revised: 8 Nov 2012

See all articles by Stephen J. Lubben

Stephen J. Lubben

Seton Hall Law School

Rajesh Narayanan

Louisiana State University

Date Written: September 26, 2012

Abstract

Over the last decade, the availability of credit default swaps (CDS) has dramatically transformed the markets for credit insurance by providing participants efficient avenues through which to share credit risks. These risk-sharing benefits notwithstanding, the growth of credit default swaps (CDS), contracts that allow creditors to hedge their default exposure to the debtor or to make leveraged bets on a particular firm’s creditworthiness, threatens to complicate the resolution of distress by separating economic and legal ownership interests in a way that existing reorganization structures have yet to adapt to.

In this article we discuss the issues that arise with CDS in the context of distress resolution and consider the possible ways in which they may be addressed. Using reorganization under chapter 11 bankruptcy to demarcate our discussion into a set of pre-bankruptcy and post-bankruptcy issues, we review the legal and finance thinking on this issue, supplementing it with the relatively modest empirical evidence available to date.

Keywords: CDS, financial distress, derivatives, swaps, empty creditor, ISDA, chapter 11, restructuring

JEL Classification: K20, K23, G34, G32, G33

Suggested Citation

Lubben, Stephen J. and Narayanan, Rajesh, CDS and the Resolution of Financial Distress (September 26, 2012). Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Forthcoming, Seton Hall Public Law Research Paper No. 2012-12, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2152643

Stephen J. Lubben (Contact Author)

Seton Hall Law School ( email )

One Newark Center
Newark, NJ 07102-5210
United States
973-642-8857 (Phone)

Rajesh Narayanan

Louisiana State University ( email )

Baton Rouge, LA 70803-6308
United States
225-578-6236 (Phone)

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