The International Swaps and Derivatives Association is preparing standardized documents for property swaps. The trade association has circulated a definitions booklet for swaps on the U.K. commercial index of the Investment Property Databank, which covers issues such as index events. It also has a concurrent project to help dealers draw up standard documents for swaps on the U.S.-based Standard & Poor's/Case Schiller Metro Area Home Price indices. Both projects should be completed in the first quarter of the year.
"It's quite possible that we will cover other indices," said Katherine Tew Darras, assistant general counsel at ISDA in New York. "We have had a lot of interest in property derivatives." For example, the IPD and other index providers offer other global indices and there are other U.S. indices that might be of interest to dealers.
