Extendable Swap

An exchange of cash flows between two counterparties, one of whom pays interest at a fixed rate and one of whom pays interest at a floating rate, in which the fixed-rate payer has the right to lengthen the term of the arrangement. The fixed-rate payer might want to exercise its right to extend the swap if interest rates were rising because it would profit from continuing to pay a fixed, below-market rate of interest and receiving an increasing market rate of interest from the floating rate.

The additional feature of an extendable swap makes it more expensive than a plain vanilla interest rate swap. That is, the fixed rate payer will pay a higher fixed interest rate and possibly an extension fee. The opposite of an extendable swap is a cancelable swap, which gives one counterparty the right to terminate the agreement early.