The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced that on Tuesday, March 8, the Exchange will begin trading newly-designed Credit Event Binary Options (CEBOs) contracts.
Credit Event Binary Options contracts allow investors to express an opinion on whether a company will experience a credit event (bankruptcy).
Due to inverse correlations between credit and equity markets, CEBO contracts can be used as a hedging tool for individual stocks. The contracts also provide the advantages of price transparency available through a regulated exchange, currently unavailable in over-the-counter credit default swaps markets.
A CEBO contract has just two possible outcomes – a payout of a fixed amount if a credit event occurs or nothing if a credit event does not occur.
The CBOE, which first began trading single-name and basket Credit Event Binary Options in 2007, recently received SEC approval to amend the Credit Event Binary Options rules.
One change simplifies the terms of a payout for CEBO contracts, allowing CBOE to list CEBO contracts that specify bankruptcy as the only trigger for a payout.
The size of the CEBO contract payout if a credit event occurs has also been revised. If a bankruptcy occurs prior to expiration of the contract, the amount of the payout will be $1,000 per contract.
D.C.