Contingent Convertible Bonds Best Practices

Owned by Jawann Swislow
Last updated: Aug 02, 2023 by Jawann Swislow
4 min read

Overview

Contingent Convertible Bonds (CoCo Bonds) are hybrid securities similar to convertible bonds, with the exception that their conversion into equity is based on the occurrence of a specific event. The event, known as the contingency, can be triggered by the equity price reaching a predetermined threshold or the issuer’s capital falling below a specified minimum.

Eagle Accounting does not have a specific processing security type for CoCo Bonds, however, they can be modeled as convertible bonds with the Exchange Offer corporate action used should a contingency event occur. The principal conversion ratio is decided at the time of the contingency event, and the corporate action can be adjusted to reflect the applicable ratio.

Reference Data

CoCo bonds are modeled using Eagle's core fixed income and equity functionality with two separate security master files (SMFs). Below are specific reference data configurations.

  • Processing Security Type: DBIBFD

  • Coupon

    • Fixed Rate Security: based on bond terms

    • Floating/Variable Rate Security: 0 (rates must be populated in Variable Rate table)

  • Coupon Type Code: Fixed, Floating, or Variable based on bond terms

  • Day Count Basis: based on bond terms

  • Business Day Convention: based on bond terms

  • Payment Frequency = based on bond terms.

  • Issue Price = 100

  • Maturity Price = 100

  • Convertible Indicator = Yes

Underlying Security Information: underlying security details can be entered using the Underlying Information fields on the SMF. Underlying security information is needed at the time of conversion of CoCo Bonds, so the fields become required when Convertible Indicator is set to Yes.

  • The equity should be entered as the underlying security for the bond

Entity Setup

Any amortization method (including none) can be used for CoCo Bonds, although it will often be irrelevant because they are purchased at par. If a CoCo Bond is purchased at a price other than par, Eagle’s core fixed income processing will amortize the security to par at maturity based on the entity-level Primary Amortization/Accretion Rule.

Trade Processing

Buy

Once all reference data has been configured, the Book Trade panel under the Trade tab can be used to process CoCo Bond transactions.

  • Trades should be processed like standard bond trades

  • A Principal value is calculated based on the Par Value/Current Face and trade Price

  • Traded Interest is calculated, if applicable, and factored into the Net Amount

  • Amortization Yield is also calculated at trade time, if applicable

Corporate Action

In order to convert the bond to its underlying equity in Accounting, an Exchange Offer corporate action must be created and processed. The corporate action should be processed on conversion date, using the same underlying security identifiers that were entered on the SMF. Accounting calculates the new position based on the original position values.

There are two options for setting up the corporate action announcement:

  • Reference > Corporation Action Announcements > Exchange Offers

  • Reference > Corporate Action Viewer > Add Announcement > Exchange Offers

Enter an identifier of the CoCo Bond in either the From Asset ID or From Issue Name field.

  • From Post Action Price = market price of the CoCo Bond at time of conversion

  • Sweep Date = date when the global corporate action process will pick and execute the corporate action (generally current date)

    • Note: this is a strictly operational data element, as it only relates to global processing; the corporate action will take effect on Ex Date

  • Ex Date = conversion date

  • Corporate Action Status = Released

  • Mandatory/Voluntary Indicator = Mandatory

Enter an identifier of the floating rate bond in either the To Asset ID or To Issue Name field

  • To Post Action Price = market price of the underlying equity at time of conversion

  • Rate Of Action = number of equity shares received for each unit of the CoCo Bond

  • Corporate Action Type = Exchange Offer

The corporate action is triggered using the Global > Global Process Center > Corporate Actions Processing > Merger/Exchange Offer/Assimilation panel.

  • Set Corporation Action Begin & End Sweep Date to a range that includes the Sweep Date entered on the announcement

Accounting

Once a CoCo Bond position is established it will follow core Eagle Accounting processes.

Mature

CoCo Bonds are captured by Eagle’s core maturity process. Maturities are triggered using the Global > Global Process Center > Expirations > Mature panel.

  • Set Maturity Processing Date equal to Maturity Date of the CoCo Bond

  • To settle the principal and interest cash from maturity, use Global Process Center > Settlements > Contract Cash

Valuation

CoCo Bonds can be valued daily using par-based prices. After conversion, the equity price will be used. Eagle Accounting calculates the security’s value by using the formula below:

  • Market value = Par Value/Current Face * Price * Price Multiplier * Quantity Scale

Reporting

STAR to PACE (S2P)

Almost all reports in Eagle leverage data from Data Management, which is populated by the S2P process. This will be scheduled as part of the daily workflow, but can also be triggered manually as described in the Accounting section.

The S2P process creates a single row for each CoCo Bond in the POSITION, POSITION_DETAIL, TRADE, and CASH_ACTIVITY tables. The MARKET_VALUE_INCOME column captures the total market value, inclusive of price fluctuations and period-to-date accruals payable or receivable.

Accounting Reports

Eagle has a core set of accounting reports that can be used to review CoCo Bond information. These are designed to support the daily operational workflow for business users, allowing Grid Reports to be easily exported to Excel and customized to provide additional details as needed. Advanced Reports are intended to be client-facing and do not provide the same level of customization.

Data Management Reporting

Performance

The performance toolkit has full functionality to calculate market value-based performance for CoCo Bonds using data supplied by the S2P process. Risk and performance attribution features are available to analyze CoCo Bond performance.

Automation

CoCo Bond SMFs and trades can be loaded through the standard Message Center streams. The SMF must be loaded prior to the trade (trades do not spawn SMFs). Refer to  for more information.