Feature
After the gold rush
Commodities
Structured Products Online
Web Stats
Mastering the storm
The succession of credit events in September and October revealed that many investors did not know what to do in the event of a default of a counterparty. What recourse do parties have under the Isda master agreement? By Joshua Cohn and Jillian Ashley
A time for special FX
Dealers are beginning to think a lot more seriously about credit-adjusting the prices they quote on foreign exchange derivatives. How are they calculating this, and how are clients responding to the move? By John Ferry
Gambling on dividends
Dividends have caused sizeable losses for dealers and investors over the recent months, as a precipitous fall in expectations has hit structured product issuers and those who participated in dividend swaps. Mark Pengelly investigates
Dead in the water?
Basel II
Rainy day funds
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have continued to gain traction in South Africa despite roiling markets. As a result, local ETF providers are extending their reach to new investors and asset classes - with some even looking to introduce exchange-traded…
Adapt or fail
Since October last year, ructions in South Africa's foreign exchange rate have caused offshore hedge funds to exit the market, while dealers have been reluctant to take on risk. Those that remain active have had to adapt their behaviour as a result. By…
Risk committees under scrutiny after Lehman collapse
How should banks be rethinking the composition and role of their risk committees in the wake of Lehman?
Collateral damage
Securities lending
Low in the water
Freight derivatives
Revolvers misfiring?
Funding risks
Sovereign hedging lessons
The big oil-hedging losses at Sri Lankan state-owned refiner Ceylon Petroleum Corporation provide another salutary lesson in the proper use of derivatives. Is the situation reflective of state-owned energy companies as a group? By Joe Marsh
Sovereign underpinning
Mortgage funding
Regulatory wrangling
Structured products
Clear benefits
The role of central counterparties is being given increased prominence in the over-the-counter markets, with regulators calling for clearing houses for credit derivatives. But how do central counterparties manage their risks? By Clive Davidson
Capital Smorgasbord
Questions are being asked about the level of capital held by banks, after the financial crisis forced governments across the world to make emergency capital injections. Will this change what qualifies as tier-one and tier-two capital? By Duncan Wood
Long overdue
New due diligence and risk weighting guidance for resecuritisations aims to prevent a repeat of the credit crisis, but should these measures have been included in the 2006 version of Basel II? By Peter Madigan
Contract counterattack
Efforts to recover the value of nearly 200,000 derivatives transactions conducted with Lehman Brothers have been frustrated by a provision of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association master agreement. But the bankrupt estate is fighting back…
Challenging times for VAR
With the release of three new consultation papers in January, the Basel Committee has come up with its most ambitious plans yet for tackling the challenges presented by the financial crisis. But its proposal to overhaul VAR models is coming in for some…
Where rocky horror assets go
With injections of government capital seemingly having little effect on restoring confidence in ailing banks, thoughts have once again turned to quarantining distressed assets. Rob Davies examines the options available to policy-makers
The short story
The UK Financial Services Authority ended its ban on short selling of financial stocks on January 16. How have financial stocks performed since the restrictions were lifted? Christopher Whittall investigates
Plugging the gaps
The various post mortems into the causes of the financial crisis have highlighted weaknesses in bank risk management practices. In particular, many banks approached risk on a silo basis, with little attention given to firm-wide exposures. Are banks…
Risk and compliance pivotal in setting compensation
Editor's blog