Infrastructure/Risk management
Danny Davis
Mishcon de Reya's insolvency expert talks about the need for companies to learn to rely less on external funding, and why a UK-style Chapter 11 process isn't necessarily a good idea
Back to basics
We take you back to the credit basics to review everything you thought you already knew but were too afraid to ask ... Susan Hinko of TriOptima explains multilateral terminations
It's payback time
If you still wake up in a cold sweat, haunted by the memory of opening your 2008 bonus slip, you're not alone. Credit professionals across the board saw their bonuses slashed last year. But not all banks were forced to scale back their remuneration…
The sovereign state
While the sovereign market has in the past been most readily associated with rates investors, it has always been a key part of the credit sector, most importantly as a benchmark for the pricing of corporate bonds. But credit default swap levels on…
Legal Spotlight
CDS dealers are under pressure to come up with a market-led solution to the clearing conundrum before regulators force one on them. Peter Green and Jeremy Jennings-Mares report
Japanese exchanges move to set up CCPs next year
Risk mitigation systems for over-the-counter derivatives set to go live in 2010
Basel releases framework for assessing systemic risk of large banks
Daily news headlines
More than 100 firms apply to buy toxic assets under PPIP
More than 100 money managers have applied to the US Treasury to be granted fund manager status under the Public-Private Investment Programme (PPIP) and commence purchasing toxic mortgage securities with public money, the department announced yesterday.
City of London defends OTC derivatives markets
Political pressure for reform risks crushing the over-the-counter derivatives market, warns a report published today by the City of London.
European CDS dealers to follow US to fixed coupons
An agreement between the major dealers to move to standardised fixed coupons for trading European credit default swaps (CDSs), following a similar move in North America, could speed global moves towards central clearing, say market participants.
Isda AGM: US regulator identifies six weaknesses in OTC market
Theo Lubke, senior vice-president at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, identified six main problem areas in the over-the-counter derivatives market during a panel discussion on public policy at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association's…
Isda AGM: trillions in derivatives torn up since June
Multilateral tear-up efforts continue to bear fruit, with notional outstanding reduced by several trillion dollars, according to a report released by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association at its annual general meeting in Beijing.
SG CIB tries to fix variance swap flaws
In the wake of hefty losses for sellers of variance swaps as volatility spiked last year, Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking (SG CIB) is touting products that might make selling variance more palatable for investors.
Ice clears $71 billion of CDSs
Atlanta-based derivatives exchange IntercontinentalExchange (Ice) has cleared $71 billion notional in credit default swaps (CDS) in the four weeks since the launch of its central clearing platform. The exchange cleared 613 transactions and reported open…
Volatility puts credit investors on the defensive
Investors are gravitating towards safe haven sectors such as utilities and telecoms as credit fundamentals on non-cyclicals continue to deteriorate
Sting in the tail
Credit spreads on highly rated names have blown out to levels that are proving irresistible to many buy-and-hold investors such as pension funds. But tail risk in the form of increased default expectations is still a major consideration. Blake Evans…
On the crest of a wave
Corporate bond volumes have been soaring as companies scramble to meet their funding requirements in the wake of the loan market's demise. Simon Boughey looks at whether this wave of issuance is a temporary phenomenon or whether it heralds a permanent…