* Could face 100 bln yen payment on derivatives -Yomiuri
* JAL: does not expect to have to settle contracts
* JAL gains approval for debt moratorium at creditor meeting
* CDS up above 2,200 bps to distressed levels
* Shares drop 3 percent to record closing low of 95 yen
(Adds company comment and background)
By Nobuhiro Kubo and Yoshifumi Takemoto
TOKYO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Japan Airlines Corp may have to pay about 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) to settle derivatives transactions, a newspaper said on Friday, sending the struggling carrier's shares down 3 percent to a record closing low.
JAL denied the report in the Yomiuri newspaper, which said it may have to settle 100 billion yen on hedging contracts against fluctuations in fuel prices, currencies and interest rates because it has requested a freezing of payments to creditors.
JAL applied for the debt moratorium earlier this month under a scheme called Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), aiming to gain some breathing room financially as it awaits a possible bailout from a state-backed turnaround fund.
The Yomiuri cited rules set by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), a trade organisation which determines whether such actions should be deemed a "credit event" and therefore require a settlement of derivatives contracts.
JAL spokesman Taro Namba said that it has already contacted counterparties on those contracts and believed it has their assurances it would not have to settle due to the ADR process.
"We have heard from experts that an application for ADR could immediately trigger a credit event," Namba said. "But we have also heard that a similar case (to ours) did not trigger a credit event in the past."
JAL held a meeting of creditors on Friday and gained approval for the debt payment moratorium under the ADR scheme. Creditors also decided that a bridge loan of 126 billion yen to be extended to the carrier would be given priority rights in the case of bankruptcy.
A previous task force appointed by the transport ministry to come up with a revival plan for JAL had estimated that the airline might have to pay about 102 billion yen to settle derivatives transactions, according to a final report obtained by Reuters.
The report also pointed out that JAL could avoid settlement if it negotiated with counterparties in advance.
The task force disbanded in October after JAL applied for aid from the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan, which is expected to take until early next year to decide if JAL is worthy of a public fund injection.
JAL's five-year credit default swaps, instruments investors buy to protect against the risk of company failure, are quoted at distressed levels above 2,200 basis points this week, up from about 800 basis points in mid-September.
That compares with about 143 basis points on the five-year iTraxx Japan index series 12.
Shares of JAL, which have lost more than half their value this year, closed down 3 percent at 95 yen, their lowest close since a relisting in 2002. The benchmark Nikkei average was down 0.5 percent. ($1=88.99 Yen) (Additional reporting by Taro Fuse; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Simon Jessop)