Central banks/People

An unfair competition

As one of the largest importers of natural gas in the European Union, Italy is a clear example of why liberalisation is harder in net importing countries. Alberto Cavaliere, professor of public economics at the University of Pavia, looks at the state of…

Subprime hope

As the fallout from the troubled US subprime mortgage market continues to spread, Laurence Neville looks at what the future holds and examines some important factors that must be addressed to ensure its survival

The whole package

Whole loan trading in the UK is blossoming and healthy volumes are expected this year as a host of new entrants increase liquidity in the market. Though US subprime troubles have dented trading volumes, many expect the market to continue to grow. Hardeep…

An elegant charter

Patricia Cook has taken on the role of chief business officer at Freddie Mac as the mortgage agency faces its biggest challenge for the past 15 years, and perhaps its biggest opportunity. Here she talks exclusively about Freddie's strategy in the current…

Mission critical

Few are the lucky ones in the current market turmoil. But good fortune and good foresight mean Freddie Mac is less vulnerable than private-label peers. The subprime mess might even present a valuable opportunity for the US mortgage agency. By Rob Mannix

A time of strife

Interest rate markets traded as if every day was a big news day during August. Mark Walker of RBS Global Banking & Markets looks back at swap movements and volatility spikes and asks what those meant for mortgage lenders

The true cost of no-cost mortgages

Banks offering no-cost mortgages have been accused of hiding the real cost of the loan from borrowers. But as Andrew Kalotay and Jinghua Qian explain, lenders can also run into problems if they fail to calculate correctly the prepayment behaviour of…

Protected from the subprime chaos

The Latin American region has suffered its fair share of financial difficulties - most of them self-inflicted - but a period of economic stability and rebuilding has left many LatAm countries well equipped to withstand the fallout from the recent…

Tim Fletcher

Insufficient data is at the root of the credit market's ruined summer, Baseline Capital's sales and marketing director tells Matthew Attwood