The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today announced the successful implementation of its Protocol for credit derivative transactions referencing Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the two US government sponsored entities (GSEs) that were placed in conservatorship on Sunday, September 7. A record 651 organizations adhered to the Protocol.
“The very high participation rate in this protocol and its success in settling a significant number of credit derivative trades on the two GSEs, constitute a major achievement for ISDA and for the industry,” said Robert Pickel, executive director and chief executive officer, ISDA. “In helping facilitate a seamless settlement procedure for these trades, ISDA has once again demonstrated the critical role that it plays in supporting the integrity of the credit derivatives market through these testing times.”
The Protocol, which closed on October 2, offers institutions the ability to amend their documentation for credit derivatives transactions in order to utilize an auction to determine the final price for settling CDS transactions referencing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The 2008 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CDS Protocol was open to ISDA members and non-members. A list of adherents is available at www.isda.org.
Today’s auctions to establish final prices for senior and subordinated obligations of the two entities referenced by CDS trades were administered by Creditex and Markit, in partnership with 13 major credit derivative dealer firms. Details of final prices are available at www.creditfixings.com.
