The 2005 Bankruptcy Reform puts derivatives contracts into an effective “super-senior” status. It is intended to provide stability to the derivative markets and reduce systemic risk, however, we find that it has negative impact on derivative-using firms' borrowings. The theoretical model in...

When borrowers are delinquent, senior debtholders prefer liquidation whereas junior debtholders prefer to maintain their option value by delaying resolution or modifying the loan. In the mortgage market, a conflict of interest (“holdup”) arises when servicers of securitized senior liens are...