Underlying
The base value (also trading object ; rarely reference value ; English underlying ) is in finance the trading object underlying a cash and forward transaction , which serves as the basis for the fulfillment and valuation of the contract.
General
Although the term is often used in the Securities Trading Act (WpHG), it is not legally defined . It is content with a - non-exhaustive - list of financial products that belong to the forward transactions. The legislature has chosen the form of the non-exhaustive list so that new base values not previously covered by the law can be included. There is also an underlying value for cash transactions, as they are based on a trading object (subject matter of the contract), which is to be delivered by the seller during settlement and accepted by the buyer.
species
Financial products , goods and raw materials (“ commodities ”) are the underlying assets .
- Financial products : securities ( equities and bonds as government bonds , corporate bonds , convertibles ; participation certificates , investment units ), money market instruments , currency , varieties , precious metals , swaps , derivatives or other negotiable financial instruments . In addition, pursuant to Section 2 (3) No. 2 WpHG , freight rates , emission allowances , climate or other physical variables ( weather derivatives ), inflation rates or other economic variables or other assets, indices ( price index , share index ) or measured values apply as the base value. Further base values have been added through case law. Stock index and basket warrants are viewed by the Federal Court of Justice as stock exchange futures, although there is no possibility of closing them out through a counter-transaction on the futures market. Basket options are underlyings that are based on an individually compiled basket of shares rather than an existing share index. Nothing else applies to transactions with independent bandwidth warrants, in which, as with other warrant transactions, the focus is on price speculation.
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Commodities :
- Goods : cereals , potatoes , halves of pork , sugar or orange juice concentrates,
- Raw materials : crude oil , natural gas , electricity , precious metals , copper or iron .
According to Section 2 (5) WpHG, goods ( English commodities ) are defined as fungible assets that can be delivered; this also includes metals , ores and alloys , agricultural products and energies such as electricity .
content
The underlying is not always physically present and determinable, as is the case with precious metals. With a financial innovation such as weather derivatives , the good is physically intangible and abstract, and measured values can only be read off. The stock basket is physically present in a DAX future , a compilation of stocks based on a stock index. The Bund future is based on an imaginary federal bond , but it can be delivered in the form of a physical one. In the case of credit derivatives such as the credit default swap , the term “reference asset” or “reference debtor” has become commonplace instead of the base value.
standardization
Base values must be standardized , i.e. have homogeneous types, dimensions or quality. The reason is the greater marketability, so that market participants do not have to question the individual properties of an underlying asset. As a result, the underlying assets no longer need to be present at the seller's location so that they can be traded on the stock exchange . Foreign currencies are the standardized form for foreign exchange, bars for precious metals, Brent crude oil for crude oil. Financial instruments have the highest degree of standardization, because internationally they are usually based on the contractual standards of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), which precisely define the underlying.
Others
The financial products with the highest turnover in Germany use the US dollar , federal bonds or the DAX as an underlying .
Individual evidence
- ^ BGH WM 1998, 545 , 546
- ↑ BGH WM 1994, 2231 , 2232