Division 14

Credit default swaps: A credit default swap (CDS) is a credit derivative agreement that gives the buyer protection, usually the full recovery, in case the reference entity defaults or suffers a credit event. In return the seller of the CDS receives from the buyer a regular fee, called the spread. For the protection seller, the exposure is the higher of the market value of the underlying reference assets or the notional value of the credit default swap. For the protection buyer, the exposure is the market value of the underlying reference asset.