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Credit Event: Definition & Meaning | Bondfish

What it means

A credit event is not a vague sense that an issuer is in trouble; it is a legally defined trigger. The market standard is set by the 2014 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions, published by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, which almost all credit default swaps reference. When one of the listed events occurs, the protection buyer in a CDS is compensated by the protection seller.

Because the same event can be worth billions across outstanding contracts, the call is not left to the two counterparties. An ISDA Determinations Committee — a panel of major buy-side and dealer firms — formally rules on whether a credit event has occurred and how the contracts settle. Its public decisions (for example, the March 2023 ruling on Credit Suisse) act as an industry-wide verdict on an issuer’s distress.

The seven ISDA credit events

Under the 2014 Definitions, a credit event is one of the following. Not all apply to every contract — corporate CDS typically use the first three, while the last three are mainly for sovereigns.

  • Bankruptcy — insolvency, winding-up or an equivalent proceeding.
  • Failure to Pay — a missed interest or principal payment after any grace period.
  • Restructuring — a coercive change to terms (lower coupon, reduced principal, longer maturity) that leaves creditors worse off.
  • Obligation Acceleration — debt becomes immediately due and payable after a default.
  • Obligation Default — an obligation becomes capable of being accelerated.
  • Repudiation / Moratorium — the issuer (usually a government) disclaims or suspends its debt.
  • Governmental Intervention — a resolution authority writes down or converts debt, added in 2014 to capture European bank bail-in and resolution actions.

Why it matters for bond investors

Most retail investors never trade CDS — but a credit event is still one of the clearest public signals that an issuer has crossed from “risky” into outright distress, and it often coincides with steep losses on the underlying bonds. For European holders in particular, the Governmental Intervention category is a reminder that bank bonds can be bailed in by a regulator without a conventional default. The practical takeaway is to watch credit quality before it deteriorates: check an issuer’s rating and seniority, and use tools like the Bondfish bond screener to filter bonds by rating and issuer rather than reacting after a credit event is already declared.

Related terms

This definition is for general information only and is not investment advice. Bond investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.