Counterparty concerns: are they easing?

Almost three years after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy tipped the financial system into crisis, investors remain worried about counterparty risk. Richard Jory asks the questions in our third annual survey of how counterparty credit concerns are feeding through to structured product providers, distributors and investors

What is the lowest counterparty credit rating you can sell to US retail investors, and has this changed in the past 12 months?

Randy Pegg, executive vice-president at Advisors Asset Management Structured Products in Colorado: We only allow banks that have a Single A rating or higher. We also look at the credit default swap (CDS) levels and in the case of certificates of deposit (CDs) we have requirements for a Veribanc rating of Green/* or higher. (The green colour code is applied if the bank's