Read
Find the operative terms and who holds each right.
Independent research initiative
The common language
The common language
for bespoke contracts.
CovenantLab studies how contractual rights shape economic exposure, valuation and market structure. We examine the rights conveyed, the powers retained, and how both change over time.
Contractual rights
- Valuation
- Comparison
- Monitoring
On-screen text with music and no narration. A loan. A property investment. A tokenized claim. What are they, really? A right to receive. A power to decide. A condition to meet. A way to exit. Together, these shape the economics. And they keep changing. An agreement evolves. Its assessment should too. CovenantLab is building a way to understand that structure. Compare it. Value it. Keep it current. Wherever the asset goes. CovenantLab. See the rights. Understand the asset. Contractual intelligence. covenantlab.net.
Illustrations show cash flows, control, exercise terms and capital return, followed by an assessment that can be compared, valued and kept current.
Playback is unavailable here. Open video.
Claims with similar headline economics can carry very different rights. A contract determines who can act, what economic exposure is transferred or retained, and how value is distributed over time.
The Framework
The contract becomes a comparable measure.
Classify
Identify the option and the conditions for using it.
Price
Assess effects on timing, control, recovery and value.
Update
Reassess as information arrives or rights are exercised.
A dated assessment that can be compared across claims and kept current.
Total Discount Rate
Contract terms belong in the discount rate.
Covenants affect recovery assumptions and option value.
- Reference rate
- Expected credit loss
- Market sentiment premium
- Contractual optionality
Documented methodology, worked analyses and a sensitivity prototype; empirical validation remains in development.
Research Agenda
One problem, studied from six directions.
We study how contractual rights affect valuation, market structure and oversight across private markets.
Regulatory & Policy
We study how comparable assessments of contractual rights can inform oversight of private markets.
Market Structure & Infrastructure
We study how a common basis for comparison can support valuation and exchange in markets built on bespoke contracts.
Law & Finance
We examine how legal and structural terms allocate control, protection and economic exposure.
Historical Precedent & Systemic Risk
We examine historical market disruptions and the role of valuation, transparency and contractual comparability.
Cross-Asset & Broader Mission
We explore how the framework may apply across private credit, real estate debt and other privately negotiated claims.
Deal Dynamics
We study how the exercise of contractual rights and the incentives of different parties shape the economics of a claim.
Recent Research
Research on contractual rights.
Working Paper · August 2026
Read on SSRN Significant Risk Transfer (SRT) as a Framework for Tokenized Real-World Assets
Examines retained rights and transferred economic exposure in tokenized claims, using significant risk transfer as a framework for assessment.
Working Paper · October 2025
Read on SSRN The Covenant Liquidity Index
A framework for rating and comparing liquidity embedded in contract terms.
Revision in progress.
Market Failure: Pricing Failing Contracts
When a contract begins to fail, the market has no shared way to price what is happening. We examine why the absence of a common language turns distress into guesswork.
Read the insightCovenant Structure and the Shape of Corporate Finance
Covenants are not boilerplate — they are the mechanism through which capital is actually allocated. We trace how covenant design reshapes the economics of a deal.
Read the insight Research capabilities today
A record for valuation and monitoring.
Valuation & comparison
Assess the terms, compare claims and explain differences in value.
Monitoring & servicing
Track amendments, exercised rights and the exposure that remains.
Institutional workflows
Automated institutional workflows remain in development. Current work includes documented methodology, worked analyses and a sensitivity prototype.
Events
Where the field convenes.
February 5, 2027 · New York
Market Microstructure Symposium 3.0
The third Market Microstructure Symposium, convened with NYU Stern and NASDAQ Analytics, bringing together academics, practitioners, and regulators on the frontier of market structure. Details forthcoming.
In partnership with NYU Stern & NASDAQ Analytics
About
An independent research initiative.
CovenantLab studies contractual rights and their economic value. The ambition is a record that follows each claim through valuation, transfer, financing and oversight.
Uri Ravid
Co-Founder
Columbia University
Co-author of CovenantLab’s research on significant risk transfer and tokenized assets, with a focus on contract analysis and private-market structure.
Elham Saeidinezhad, Ph.D.
Co-Founder & Lead Researcher
Finance faculty at CCNY; teaches at Columbia SIPA and NYU Stern.
Her research spans market microstructure, liquidity and financial contracts.
Contact
A common language for private markets.
For research collaboration or to discuss applying the framework to a contract, contact the team.
uri@covenantlab.net elham@covenantlab.net
- Design partnerships
- Research collaboration
- Pilots