Default (finance)

Markets

Assets
Asset (economics) Bond Asset growth Capital asset Commodity Derivatives Domains Equity Foreign exchange Money Over-the-counter Private equity Real estate Spot Stock
Participants
Angel investor Bull (stock market speculator) Financial planner Investor institutional Retail Speculator
Locations
Financial centres Offshore financial centres Conduit and sink OFCs

Corporate

General
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Transactions
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Taxation
Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) Corporate tax haven Tax inversion Tax haven Transfer pricing

Public

Banking

Lists of banks

Insolvency

Processes
Administration Bankruptcy Chapter 7 (US) CVA Conservatorship Dissolution Examinership IVA Liquidation Provisional liquidation Receivership
Officials
Insolvency practitioner Tribunal Regulatory agency Liquidator Referee in Bankruptcy Trustee in bankruptcy
Claimants
Creditor Preferential creditor Secured creditor Unsecured creditor
Restructuring
Administration (UK) Chapter 11 (US) Cram down Restructuring Scheme of arrangement
Avoidance regimes
Fraudulent conveyance Undervalue transaction Unfair preference Voidable floating charge
Offences
Fraudulent trading Misfeasance Trading while insolvent Wrongful trading
Security
Floating charge Lien Mortgage Second lien loan Security interest
International
Chapter 15 (US) Cross-border insolvency Insolvency Regulation UNCITRAL Model Law
By country
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Other
Anti-deprivation rule Bankruptcy alternatives Creditors' rights Chapter 9 (US) Debtor Financial distress History of bankruptcy law List of bankrupts Pari passu Pre-packaged insolvency Sovereign default Subordination

In finance, default is failure to meet the legal obligations (or conditions) of a loan,^[1] for example when a home buyer fails to make a mortgage payment, or when a corporation or government fails to pay a bond which has reached maturity. A national or sovereign default is the failure or refusal of a government to repay its national debt.

The biggest private default in history is Lehman Brothers, with over $600 billion when it filed for bankruptcy in 2008 (equivalent to over $830 billion in 2023). The biggest sovereign default is Greece, with $138 billion in March 2012 (equivalent to $192 billion in 2023).^[2]

^ O'Sullivan, Arthur; Sheffrin, Steven M. (2003). Economics: Principles in Action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA: Pearson Prentice Hall. p. 261. ISBN 0-13-063085-3.
^ Gillespie, Patrick (June 29, 2015). "Greece could be biggest national default in history". CNN Money.