For trainees and junior lawyers · English law

Derivatives

A payments group fixes the interest rate on its new loan with a swap from its lead bank. You act for the company.

How a company fixes its loan’s interest cost, taught through one hedge and its master agreement, clause by clause.

A sheet of graph paper seen from above, laid over the corner of a thick bound loan agreement whose cover sheet shows its date box and centred lines. A wandering pencil line crosses the graph, now above, now below, with no slope at all, and runs out past the margin, off the edge of the paper and onto the desk, where the pencil lies. A single copper line is ruled dead straight across it, from the grid's left margin to its right margin, and stops there exactly. The steel ruler that drew it still lies along its lower edge, reaching back over the agreement; a cup of coffee stands on the desk to the right.

You will be able to:

  • Read a hedging contract and say what each clause does
  • Explain what the company and the bank each want, and why
  • Follow a hedge from the bank’s first offer to the day it ends

15 chapters with tests · a final exam · a certificate · about 6 hours in all · published 23 August 2026

Start Chapter 1

Chapters

Module 1

The Exposure

Module 2

The Paper

Module 3

The Two Years

Module 4

The Break

Module 5

Reading the File

One case runs through every chapter: a payments company fixes the interest on its loan with its bank, then repays the loan early. Read the full master agreement →

Glossary: every term in plain English · Final exam: 30 questions, open book