Deutsche Bank has been able to unwind a €1.4bn ($1.6bn) exchangeable bond into shares of Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceuticals, using an innovative call option that allowed it to counteract new accounting rules.

In November 2001 Deutsche entered into a derivatives structure involving put options with Novartis over the company's own shares. Put options give the buyer the right to sell shares at a specified price on a specified date. Deutsche warehoused Novartis shares onto its own balance sheet and hedged the transaction using an exchangeable bond.