Equity markets
ASIC lifts ban on shorting financials
Investors welcome easing of restrictions but say damage already done
Duggan offers credit and equity play
Duggan Asset Management, a Dublin-based niche investment firm, has launched a 100% capital protected deposit-based structured product - called the Credit Bond. The product is designed to give investors exposure to the high-yield credit market by…
Volatility returns to pre-Lehman levels
Market volatility across several sectors has dropped back to levels last seen before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, lending weight to the belief that the financial markets are on the road to recovery.
US Wrap: Momentum accelerates towards week end
Issuance gathered pace yesterday as four providers launched a diverse spread of 18 products. Bank of America unveiled accelerated growth and kick-out structures, neither of which offered exposure to the usual S&P 500 index, but instead exposed investors…
Selling pressure lifts on dividends
Implied dividends of European stocks, derived from the prices of dividend swaps on the DJ Eurostoxx 50 index, have rallied sharply, reflecting growing confidence about the future of the equity market.
SEC roundtable: circuit breakers most favoured short-selling rule
Participants favoured circuit breakers, which halt trading in volatile markets, over other proposed short-selling restrictions discussed at the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) roundtable on May 5.
Société Générale takes UK warrants out to 2012
Société Générale has issued covered warrants with maturities of 2011 and 2012, its longest maturities to date and beyond the usual three to six months that require rolling over from one product to the next.
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
Product performance
Two products common to the UK market and one that is well-known in the US - all three with the same strike date - are the subject of this month's comparisons
Counting on Kotak
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Structural simplicity
Restoring confidence in structured products is top of equity derivatives dealers' agenda as they move to offer less complex instruments to jittery investors. But the industry faces a long haul to bring business back to levels witnessed in 2007. Jill Wong…
Exploiting Japan's renegade repos
Japanese equities
An aversion to variance
As volatility spiked in late 2008, variance swaps contributed to huge bank losses, particularly in single stocks. Some dealers have now stopped quoting single-stock variance swaps, while activity in the broader market has been scaled back. Mark Pengelly…
Stoxx index to underlie new exchange-traded fund
The Dow Jones Stoxx 50 index has been licensed to ETFlab Investment to underlie a new exchange-traded fund (ETF). The index, which is one of the benchmarks for European equity performance, includes blue-chip super sector leaders from 18 countries across…
Meteor presents Société Générale with a kick-out
Meteor Asset Management has launched a new kick out plan with index triggers which fall as the product progresses. The Prima Plus 6 Kick Out Growth Plan, issued by Société Générale, lasts 10 years and is linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 and DJ…
Trading and technical gains outweigh loan losses in Q1
Strong trading results have offset large loan losses as banks report a mixed bag of first-quarter results.
US Treasury failing on Tarp oversight, report finds
The US Treasury's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (Tarp) is vulnerable to fraud, abuse and profiteering, due to a lack of proper supervision, according to a highly critical report from the programme's inspector-general published today.
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.
Short-selling ban increased volatility more than credit crisis
The bans on short selling imposed in the US and Europe in 2008 had more effect on market volatility in off-limit stocks and equity markets than the financial crisis itself, a new study has concluded.
Put spreads play part in the taming of the skew
The recent popularity of put spreads and put-spread collars has helped push down volatility skew to record lows on global equity indexes, according to dealers.
BNP Paribas announces two Tie Breaks
BNP Paribas has launched two new capital guaranteed funds for French retail investors, Tie Break 3 and Tie Break 5. The funds' return is linked to the performance of the DJ Eurostoxx 50, and targets bullish views on the European stock market.