ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Credit Support Annex

A credit support annex is like a toy box for big kids who like to play with money. When two grown-ups agree to buy and sell things with each other, they sometimes worry that one of them might not be able to pay what they owe. That's where the toy box comes in.

The toy box has some special toys called "collateral," which are like back-up toys that are worth money. Each grown-up puts some of their own collateral toys in the box, and they agree to give the other grown-up some of their collateral toys if they can't pay what they owe.

But the grown-ups also want to be fair and not take too many toys from the toy box. That's where the credit support annex comes in. It has rules that say how many toys each grown-up can take if there's a problem.

So, the credit support annex is like a special set of rules for the grown-ups to make sure they can still play with money toys safely and fairly.