• A credit default swap is a contract in which the buyer of the swap makes one or more payments to the seller of the swap in exchange for a promise that if a particular credit instrument, such as a bond or loan, fails, a specified amount will be paid to the buyer by the seller. Essentially, the seller of the swap provides a guarantee that if the bond (which is the subject of the credit default swap) defaults, the seller will pay the buyer a certain amount of money. Numerous credit default swaps were bought/sold along with mortgage-backed securities that were issued with subprime real estate loans in the mid-2000s. Although credit default swaps are often compared to insurance contracts, one important difference is that in the case of an insurance policy, the insured must also own the property insured. In contrast, the buyer of a credit default swap need not be the owner of the financial instrument for which the swap provides financial guarantee. Thus, credit default swaps facilitate speculation (by buyers) regarding the default of a particular credit instrument. Another key difference from insurance is that the seller of a credit default swap, unlike an insurance company, is not required to maintain a certain level of reserves in case the instrument in question (for example, a mortgage-backed security) defaults, and the seller must pay the buyer of the credit default swap. In 2008, insurance company AIG’s inability to maintain adequate reserves for the billions of dollars of credit default swaps it sold was the root cause of the company’s near collapse.