Credit Default Swaps: What Happens In A Credit Event?
Even though credit default swaps (CDS) are basically insurance policies against the default of a bond issuer, many investors had used these securities to take a view on a particular credit event. The major bankruptcies that occurred in the fall of 2008 caught some investors in these contracts off guard; after all, a major CDS event had not occurred since Delphi in November 2005.
The events of the fall of 2008 were a test of the systems that settle credit default swaps. This article will explore what happens to CDS holders when a company experiences a credit event. We'll look at what happened in the Lehman Brothers (OTC:LEHMQ) failure as an example. (To learn more, read Case Study: The Collapse Of Lehman Brothers.)