Credit markets
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Fitch first to report CDO exposure to WorldCom
New York-based Fitch is the first rating agency to report WorldCom exposures on the collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) it has rated.
Esops: time to hedge?
With share prices depressed, now seems a good time for companies with large employee stock option plans to hedge them. Why aren’t corporate treasurers acting?
An aggressive agenda
Dresdner’s chief risk officer, Heinrich Linz, is masterminding a credit revolution at the German bank.
US middle-market CLO business poised to rise, says Fitch
US middle-market collateralised loan obligation (CLO) issuance is set to rise, according to a new Fitch Ratings report. A middle-market company is classed as one with annual revenues of between $10 and 400 million.
UK central bank concerned by investor appetite for credit risk
The purchase of credit derivatives instruments by some institutional investors in their hunt for yield is a cause for concern, the Bank of England said in its latest Financial Stability Review, released today.
Primus Financial starts credit derivatives trading
Derivatives market veterans Thomas Jasper and Joseph Bauman said their new firm, Primus Financial Products, a triple A rated provider of credit risk protection for the credit derivatives market, has started trading.
Barep and JP Morgan close $215 million emerging market CDO
Paris-based alternative investment fund Barep Asset Management, a wholly-owned unit of French banking group Société Générale and JP Morgan Securities, has closed a $216.6 million collateralised debt obligation (CDO) backed by a revolving pool of US…
KDB sets up credit derivatives desk in Seoul
The Korea Development Bank (KDB) has established a credit derivatives desk following an internal reorganisation of the bank's derivatives operations and in response to the growing credit derivatives market in the country, said Hae-Geun Chung, head of the…
Crédit Lyonnais builds up credit derivatives capability in Tokyo
French bank Crédit Lyonnais intends to develop its credit derivatives activity in Japan, with two new hires, one internal transfer and possibly one further hire, said Edward Willems, head of credit derivatives in Tokyo.
Fitch hits back at Moody's in CDO ratings row
Rating agency Fitch moved to defend its standing in the collateralised debt obligation (CDO) rating market by slating the ‘notching’ practices used by rival rating agency Moody’s in a formal report yesterday.
Risk 2002 USA: credit risk transfer under the spotlight
Robin Lenna - head of portfolio management at FleetBoston Financial - highlighted the important role of insurers in the credit risk transfer market at the Risk 2002 USA conference in Boston today, while Carl Groth - a director at Willis Structured…
Risk 2002 USA: Convergence opportunities growing
Growing product crossovers between the insurance sector and the derivatives markets have provided a range of attractive risk transfer opportunities, according to participants in a panel discussion on convergence at Risk’s 8th annual US congress in Boston…
IAIS credit risk transfer investigation sees worrying trends
The Basel-based International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), which represents insurance supervisory authorities of some 100 jurisdictions, said it is concerned that some insurance companies active in the $1 trillion credit derivatives…
Credit Lyonnais prepares Asian-flavoured arbitrage synthetic CDO
France’s Credit Lyonnais Securities is getting ready to launch a global arbitrage synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) within a month, according to the bank’s head of Japan investment banking and ex-Japan Asian debt capital markets, Jean-Marc…
Weaving an integrated solution
A treacherous credit environment and growing awareness of the danger of credit and market risk correlation have convinced financial institutions that they need to evaluate these exposures together. To get a unified view, will they need to adopt unified…
Taking a new career track
CDO managers
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Forex risk