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A '''credit default swap''' ('''CDS''') is a contract that makes the seller of the CDS responsible for compensating the buyer in the event of a loan [[Default (finance)|default]] or other [[credit event]]. The buyer of the CDS makes a series of payments (the CDS "fee" or "spread") to the seller and, in exchange, receives a specified payoff amount if the loan goes bad. CDS are used to shift credit risk from the buyer to the seller.

A '''credit default swap''' ('''CDS''') is a contract that makes the seller of the CDS responsible for compensating the buyer in the event of a loan [[Default (finance)|default]] or other [[credit event]]. The buyer of the CDS makes a series of payments (the CDS "fee" or "spread") to the seller and, in exchange, receives a specified payoff amount if the loan goes bad. CDS are used to shift credit risk from the buyer to the seller.

In the event of default, the buyer of the CDS gets money, usually the [[face value]] of the loan), and the seller of the CDS takes possession of the defaulted loan.<ref name="LBO CDS">Simkovic, Michael, [http://ssrn.com/abstract=1632084 "Leveraged Buyout Bankruptcies, the Problem of Hindsight Bias, and the Credit Default Swap Solution"], ''Columbia Business Law Review'' (Vol. 2011, No. 1, pp. 118), 2011.</ref>  However, anyone can purchase a CDS, even buyers who do not hold the loan instrument and who have no direct [[insurable interest]] in the loan. (A CDS unrelated to a loan is called "naked" CDSs). If there are more CDS contracts outstanding than bonds in existence, the industry has agreed to a procedure to hold a [[Credit_default_swap#Auctions|credit event auction]]; the payment received is usually substantially less than the face value of the loan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2012/01/05/779501/why-do-they-exist/ |title=Credit event auctions: Why do they exist? |work=FT Alphaville |first= Lisa |last=Pollack |date=January 5, 2012 |accessdate=July 9, 2012}}</ref> The European Parliament has approved a ban on naked CDSs, since 1 December 2011, but the ban only applies to debt for sovereign nations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/finance-economy-cds.dij|title=Euro-Parliament bans "naked" Credit Default Swaps|publisher=EUbusiness|date=Nov 16, 2011|accessdate=July 9, 2012}}</ref>

In the event of default, the buyer of the CDS gets money, usually the [[face value]] of the loan), and the seller of the CDS takes possession of the defaulted loan.<ref name="LBO CDS">Simkovic, Michael, [http://ssrn.com/abstract=1632084 "Leveraged Buyout Bankruptcies, the Problem of Hindsight Bias, and the Credit Default Swap Solution"], ''Columbia Business Law Review'' (Vol. 2011, No. 1, pp. 118), 2011.</ref>  However, anyone can purchase a CDS, even buyers who do not hold the loan instrument and who have no direct [[insurable interest]] in the loan. (A CDS unrelated to a loan is called "naked" CDSs). If there are more CDS contracts outstanding than bonds in existence, the industry has agreed to a procedure to hold a [[Credit_default_swap#Auctions|credit event auction]]; the payment received is usually substantially less than the face value of the loan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2012/01/05/779501/why-do-they-exist/ |title=Credit event auctions: Why do they exist? |work=FT Alphaville |first= Lisa |last=Pollack |date=January 5, 2012 |accessdate=July 9, 2012}}</ref> The European Parliament has approved a ban on naked CDSs, since 1 December 2011, but the ban only applies to the debt of sovereign nations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/finance-economy-cds.dij|title=Euro-Parliament bans "naked" Credit Default Swaps|publisher=EUbusiness|date=Nov 16, 2011|accessdate=July 9, 2012}}</ref>

Credit default swaps have existed since the early 1990s. Their use increased after 2003.  By the end of 2007, the outstanding CDS amount was $62.2&nbsp;trillion,<ref name='ISDA Annual Chart'>{{cite web|url=http://www.isda.org/statistics/pdf/ISDA-Market-Survey-annual-data.pdf |title=Chart; ISDA Market Survey; Notional amounts outstanding at year-end, all surveyed contracts, 1987-present |accessdate=April 8, 2010 |format=PDF |publisher=[[International Swaps and Derivatives Association]] (ISDA)}}</ref> falling to $26.3&nbsp;trillion by mid-year 2010<ref name="test">[http://www.isda.org/statistics/recent.html ISDA 2010 MID-YEAR MARKET SURVEY]. Latest available a/o 2012-03-01.</ref> but reportedly $25.5<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isdacdsmarketplace.com/market_statistics |title=ISDA: CDS Marketplace :: Market Statistics |publisher=Isdacdsmarketplace.com |date=2010-12-31 |accessdate=July 9, 2012}}</ref>&nbsp;trillion in early 2012.<ref>{{cite web| first=Ellen|last=Brown|authorlink=Ellen Brown|url=http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29411 |title=How Greece Could Take Down Wall Street|publisher=[[Michel Chossudovsky|GlobalResearch.ca]] |date=February 21, 2012 |accessdate=July 9, 2012}}</ref>

Credit default swaps have existed since the early 1990s. Their use increased after 2003.  By the end of 2007, the outstanding CDS amount was $62.2&nbsp;trillion,<ref name='ISDA Annual Chart'>{{cite web|url=http://www.isda.org/statistics/pdf/ISDA-Market-Survey-annual-data.pdf |title=Chart; ISDA Market Survey; Notional amounts outstanding at year-end, all surveyed contracts, 1987-present |accessdate=April 8, 2010 |format=PDF |publisher=[[International Swaps and Derivatives Association]] (ISDA)}}</ref> falling to $26.3&nbsp;trillion by mid-year 2010<ref name="test">[http://www.isda.org/statistics/recent.html ISDA 2010 MID-YEAR MARKET SURVEY]. Latest available a/o 2012-03-01.</ref> but reportedly $25.5<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isdacdsmarketplace.com/market_statistics |title=ISDA: CDS Marketplace :: Market Statistics |publisher=Isdacdsmarketplace.com |date=2010-12-31 |accessdate=July 9, 2012}}</ref>&nbsp;trillion in early 2012.<ref>{{cite web| first=Ellen|last=Brown|authorlink=Ellen Brown|url=http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29411 |title=How Greece Could Take Down Wall Street|publisher=[[Michel Chossudovsky|GlobalResearch.ca]] |date=February 21, 2012 |accessdate=July 9, 2012}}</ref>