Feature
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.
New mortgage finance fund listed on NYSE
State Street Global Advisers has launched a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) linked to the performance of companies involved in mortgage finance within US financial services. The SPDR KBW Mortgage Finance ETF tracks the KBW Mortgage Finance Index, which…
Lyxor offers funds of hedge funds in Ucits III wrapper
Lyxor Asset Management, a subsidiary of Société Générale, has launched two new Ucits III funds, the Lyxor Hedge Fund Index and Active Edge funds, which are designed to provide exposure to the hedge fund industry using managed accounts.
The big clean-up
The US Treasury's Public-Private Investment Program aims to cleanse balance sheets of toxic assets and revive financial markets. But questions remain over who will participate, how assets will be priced and how big a dent the scheme will actually make on…
In the clear
The trend away from uncleared over-the-counter trading to cleared OTC trading has prompted exchanges to list a greater range of OTC cleared products. But to what extent can the OTC markets ever become completely cleared? Katie Holliday investigates
Beyond 2012
The EU ETS has been a key driver of CDM market growth. However, changes to CER import limits suggested for Phase III could jeopardise that, writes Miles Austin at EcoSecurities
Landfill of Plenty
Government incentives to produce 'green' electricity mean that despite the credit crunch, new waste-to-energy technologies continue to attract interest from venture capitalists, raising hopes for further financing opportunities once the economy begins…
Solar contracts to the rescue?
The Solar Power Purchase Agreement, key to funding the industry in the US, is under threat due to the economic downturn. Elisa Wood investigates
Squeezing more out of P&L explain
Commodity traders are increasingly aware of the need to squeeze greater profits from existing business activities. One oft overlooked tool for doing this is the P&L 'explain', write Akhil Sehgal and Anup Singh
Ukraine's next generation
DTEK, Ukraine's only privately owned power utility, wants to become a leading energy player linking Ukraine, Russia and Europe. Roderick Bruce meets Vitaly Butenko, DTEK's chief strategy officer, to discuss the company's progress and plans for expansion…
Paying the piper
The Nord Stream pipeline, planned to come online in 2011, will be vital to help Europe meet its future gas demands. However, financing any infrastructure project in the current climate is difficult. Roderick Bruce looks at the challenges facing Nord…
Simple structures
An increase in risk premiums on sovereign debt is giving banks a headache in pricing certain credit-related structured products. Investor appetite for such deals is in evidence, but mainly for simple, unleveraged products. Sophia Morrell reports
Inflated expectations
It may seem counterintuitive, given these deflationary times, but inflation-linked fixed income strategies are proving a hit with investors as fiscal stimulus raises the threat that inflation will take over in the medium term. William Rhode reports
Financial pricing for the 21st century
Putting a price on assets for which no active market exists is a process mired in complexity and no little controversy. But the pricing models of yesteryear are simply not up to the job. David Patrikarakos looks at the new generation of valuation models…
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
Big bang: new dawn for CDS market
The 'big bang' protocol, which changes the way credit derivatives are quoted and traded, may have brought a CDS exchange one step closer
Lessons learned
OpRisk USA
Winning hearts
Embedding op risk
A clear example
Op risk in Australia