Derivatives Exposure: A Circuitous Path To "Gross Notional Amounts"

In this post, we tackle the question of how to calculate the "gross notional amount" of a derivatives transaction for purposes of the limited derivatives user provision of Rule 18f-4. This is a surprisingly difficult question because, although the adopting release for Rule 18f-4 (the "Adopting Release") refers to "notional amount" 63 times, the release never directly addresses what the term means. We think we found an answer, but it required us to wind our way through a series of earlier SEC statements.

First Clue

According to the Adopting Release, the SEC: