Finance Act 1994

149 Interest rate contracts and options

(1) A contract is an interest rate contract for the purposes of this Chapter if—

(a) the condition mentioned below is fulfilled, and

(b) the only transfers of money or money’s worth for which the contract provides are payments falling within subsection (2), (3) or (4) or section 151 below.

(2) The condition is that under the contract, whether unconditionally or subject to conditions being fulfilled, a qualifying company becomes entitled to a right to receive, or becomes subject to a duty to make, at a time specified in the contract a variable rate payment.

(3) An interest rate contract may include provision under which, as the consideration or part of the consideration for a payment falling within subsection (2) above, the qualifying company becomes subject to a duty to make, or (as the case may be) becomes entitled to a right to receive, at a time specified in the contract a fixed or fixed rate payment.

(4) In so far as the rights and duties mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) above relate to two payments—

(a) which fall to be made at the same time, and

(b) of which one falls to be made to and the other by the qualifying company,

it is immaterial for the purposes of this section that those rights and duties may be exercised and discharged by a payment made to or, as the case may require, by the company of an amount equal to the difference between the amounts of those payments.

(5) Each of the following, namely—

(a) an option to enter into an interest rate contract, and

(b) an option to enter into such an option,

is an interest rate option for the purposes of this Chapter if the only transfers of money or money’s worth for which it provides are payments falling within section 151 below.

(6) In this section—

• “fixed payment” means a payment of a fixed amount specified in the contract;

• “fixed rate payment” means a payment the amount of which falls to be determined (wholly or mainly) by applying to a notional principal amount specified in the contract, for a period so specified, a rate the value of which at all times is the same as that of a fixed rate of interest so specified;

• “variable rate payment” means a payment the amount of which falls to be determined (wholly or mainly) by applying to a notional principal amount specified in the contract, for a period so specified, a rate the value of which at any time is the same as that of a variable rate of interest so specified.