Holders of credit-default swaps on Greek bonds shouldn't tear up their contracts after yesterday's ruling against a payout. The International Swaps & Derivatives Association said the swaps hadn't been triggered by the European Central Bank's exchange of Greek bonds for new securities exempt from losses taken by private investors. The group will now probably be asked to determine whether collective action clauses, or CACS, being used by Greece to impel investors to participate in a wider exchange of bonds that would trigger the swaps.

“They will have to enforce CACS,” said Alessandro Giansanti, a senior rates strategist at ING Groep NV in Amsterdam. “At that point the exchange will become coercive and that will be a restructuring event for CDS.”

The 130 billion-euro ($170 billion) bailout for Greece is testing the sanctity of the market for credit-default swaps and their effectiveness as a hedge against losses on government bonds. Policy makers including former ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet have opposed paying the contracts because they're concerned that traders will be encouraged to bet against failing nations and worsen Europe's debt crisis.