Feature
Meeting the pace of change
Energy trading is advancing so quickly it's sometimes difficult for software to keep pace. Energy Risk's software survey reveals almost half of respondents changed systems in 2006. David Watkins reports
The IFRS conundrum
Firms with a public listing in the EU need to adhere to complex accounting standards on financial instruments. Michiel Mannaerts and Pieter Veuger look at the latest implications for energy companies
Designing a market
With Canada likely to embark on an emissions-trading scheme this year, Oliver Holtaway looks at the various forms it could take
Gearing up for ever higher leverage
Rising leverage in the global system coupled with fears for the accuracy of credit risk pricing dominated discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year. But not everyone is downbeat, as Matthew Attwood finds out
The Big Interview: LMA
Should high-yield issuers publicly disclose details of their loan agreements? Nikki Marmery talks to the LMA about this thorny issue
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 ... Juan-Carlos Martorell, director in structured credit marketing at ABN Amro in London explains the mechanics of CPDOs
CDS documentation
Market graphic
Q: What do the distressed debt market and the Japanese puffer-fish have in common? A: They're both irresistible - but highly toxic
Distressed debt investors gearing up for a bumper year should take note of the name of Babson's new credit fund, Fugu, after the deadly Japanese puffer-fish - a prized delicacy that can be lethal if not prepared correctly. Philip Moore reports on the new…
Bob Buhr
The existence of so-called special shares in some European companies enables governments to block certain transactions such as acquisitions and LBOs. Understanding how they work is necessary for bondholders in assessing LBO risk, says the head of credit…
Moody's hybrid methodology
Talking point
Subprime mortgages trigger ABX sell-off
Investors in the subprime mortgage sector might have been expecting some kind of market correction after a jump in delinquency rates at the back end of 2006. What they weren't expecting was a full-scale stampede out of the ABX index. Credit reports
Harnessing our differences
In the first of a series, Eric Holmquist considers the characteristics, challenges and opportunities in developing a risk culture
Global warming: a new risk for firms
MANAGEMENT
Two heads are better than one
Glenn Christensen of Synovus Financial Corp. introduces an enterprise risk management strategy known as the Bifurcated ERM Methodology
A call to compliance
Mifid, Basel II, SOX - the pace of regulatory change has increased substantially over the past few years, which has led to the large-scale expansion of compliance departments for financial services firms. But the recruitment market is finding it hard to…
GRC - the hot new operational risk product
MEASUREMENT
Resolving the confusion
Risk control self-assessments have become a Tower of Babel for the op risk discipline, with a variety of different approaches being taken. Ellen Davis reports
Paper claims Basel II could drive corruption
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ID theft is the most common consumer fraud
FINANCIAL CRIME
Bumf and bumf-ability
Each time a directive is altered in the run-up to implementation, the resulting rewording and reprinting of documentation can prove almost as challenging as getting the changes accepted by the industry. When that directive is as large as Mifid, a whole…
Risk managers: rainbow warriors?
Corporate social responsibility is an oft-bandied term among big business, but frustratingly hard to define. Peter Madigan looks at the risk issues for banks and what risk and compliance executives need to know
Gait marches towards greater security
MANAGEMENT
Getting the balance right
Inflation