J. R. Varma Committee

This one is not written up yet

The definition above is the short version. A full explanation — how it works, a worked example and the exam traps — is still being written. In the meantime the chapter below covers it in context.

Written up from the same chapter

• Clearing corporationThe entity that steps between every buyer and seller in the derivatives segment by novation, becoming the counterparty to both sides and guaranteeing that the trade settles.
• DerivativeA contract whose value is derived from the value of something else — the underlying — rather than from anything the contract itself owns or produces.
• Exchange traded derivativeA derivative traded on an organised exchange on standardised terms, with prices set by anonymous auction and performance guaranteed by a clearing corporation — as against a bilateral, customised OTC contract.
• Forward contractA bilateral, over-the-counter agreement between two parties to buy or sell an asset on a fixed future date at a price agreed today — customised to suit them, and binding on both.
• Futures contractA standardised forward traded on an exchange, where the exchange fixes every term except the price and the clearing corporation guarantees settlement, so neither side carries the other's default risk.
• HedgerA participant who already carries interest rate risk from a real business exposure and uses derivatives to remove it, rather than to take a view on the market.