Make-wholes in sovereign bonds

Abstract

Multiple researchers have observed a dramatic shift in US corporate bonds starting roughly in the mid-1990s and extending to the current period: from fixed premium call options to flexible rate call options.1 This flexible rate call provision was known initially as the ‘doomsday call’ and is now referred to as ‘make-whole’ call. It originated in the Canadian corporate bond market in the mid-1980s and migrated to the USA in the mid-1990s.2 Today, it is ubiquitous in the corporate bond market. A fixed premium call typically specified a percentage premium over the principal amount as a function of the remaining time on the bond (eg 110 per cent, if called five years prior to maturity year or 108 per cent if redeemed four years prior and so on).3 A ‘make-whole’ call, instead, measures the amount to be paid as a discounted value of future amounts, with the discount rate being a small spread over the prevailing risk-free rate (eg the discount rate might be the US Treasury rate plus 50 basis points).4