Credit - 2009-02-01
Articles in this issue
Q&A: David Pagliaro & Peter Jones
Two S&P executives explain how the rating agency's ABSXchange platform for structured products and the VSS valuations service benefit investors in today's unpredictable markets
Deals of the Month: Staples
One of the most encouraging aspects of the strong pace of corporate issuance in the dollar market in January, in addition to the sheer volume of new paper, was the willingness of investors to leave the security of the investment grade's higher echelons…
Insurance debt: Don't take a tumble
Holders of bonds from the insurance sector should prepare themselves for a rough ride in 2009. Lingering concerns over the exposure of certain names to toxic structured credit assets and the difficulty of raising more debt in the current environment are…
Column: Nick Chamie
A huge rise in the funding needs of developed nations will hurt emerging markets
The repo effect
The ability of banks to use securitisation deals as collateral for repo funding from central banks has resulted in larger deals with more esoteric assets. Laurence Neville looks at how this change is affecting the securitisation market as a whole
Profile: Conrad Hewitt
The widespread belief that fair value accounting somehow contributed to the financial crisis is ill-informed - or so the SEC's chief accountant explains to Alexander Campbell
ABS collateral pools to deteriorate in 2009
Two largest rating agencies predict global economic slowdown will hit loans underlying most asset-backed securities, with consumer loans in UK, Ireland and Spain worst affected
Volatility forces iBoxx to change index rules
Wide discrepancies in prices submitted by banks meant that iBoxx indices were not accurately reflecting market values, so the index custodian has relaxed the inclusion criteria for prices
Credit ratings newcomer hires ex-S&P president
Credit rating agency Rapid Ratings adds Kathleen Corbet to its board in a push to increase awareness of its rating system which measures financial health rather than creditworthiness
Legal Spotlight
The ECB has set minimum standards that ABS must meet if issuers are to use the securities as repo-eligible funding. Angus Duncan assesses the impact of these new rules on existing ABS
Government guarantee schemes force covered bond market to retrench
Covered bonds, both public and private, still have a place in portfolios despite competition from the recent phenomenon of government-guaranteed bank debt
Deals of the Month: GDF Suez
The primary markets have been buzzing since the start of the year. We profile GDF Suez's mammoth EUR4.25bn deal, the $1.5bn five-year from Staples, and Toyota's Swiss franc issue
Credit Investor Survey 2009
Our exclusive poll of leading credit investors gives an insight into the factors affecting today’s investment decisions. Which assets provide value? Which sectors should you avoid? When will conditions improve?
A capital offence
In believing that healthy capital reserves would enable banks to weather the credit crisis, lawmakers and banking chiefs neglected one important fact, says Suresh Sankaran of Fiserv IPS-Sendero: that robust capital adequacy ratios do very little to keep…
Unblocking the euro pipeline
Last month brought a huge EUR48.4 billion of new corporate bonds, more than half the total amount of supply one investment bank predicted for the whole year in the euro market. Matthew Attwood looks at the drivers of the trend, and finds that in one…
